Ruminations
by Leon Woon
Summary: Life in Berk wasn't boring, not by anyone's expectations. Between crazy dragons, crazier friends, and themselves, Hiccup and Astrid have a lot on their plate.  HiccupxAstrid
1. Chapter 1

**So here's a multi-chapter fic that I've been itching to flesh out for goodness knows how long. ;)**

**Thanks for the encouragements to help me come up with this!**

**Consider this one the extension of my previous one-shot **_**What Is In A Name?**_

**A/N: This will be a series of one-shots that may or may not follow a plot arc. Do tell me what you think about it all, yeah? Because really, it's the **_**readers**_**, giving the feedback, that tells me what's right and what's not with a story. Any and all comments & criticisms are very much appreciated. =)**

_**Luck**_

_What else can I say about Berk? _

_It snows for nine months, and hails the other three._

_Food is adequate at best, and we're at least a week's sailing away from anywhere else._

_But it's home, and I wouldn't have it any other way._

_Stubbornness issues and all that._

_-__**Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III**__- _

"_Tales of lands faraway and unknown always thrilled, even if it was mere words and stories in passing. Visiting merchants often talked of wonders, seas faraway where tides after tides of sand replaced the oceans, where carpets could ferry people through the clouds, other lands that built fortresses of stone and mortar, seemingly impenetrable by mere men, of warriors that cover themselves head to toe in armor, doing battle with beasts and saving fair maidens in distress, all in the name of chivalry._

_The island of Berk had its own shares of tales and legends for these merchants to carry on to those lands of the unknown. They will talk in awe of the island where humans and dragons could live in peace. They will talk of people flying through the clouds on majestic, powerful wings and deter any foe foolish enough to invade an island where both rider and steed could tear limb from limb, with their teeth._

_They will talk of the people who are both proud and passionate. They will talk about the Vikings of Berk, and it will amaze all."_

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III finished reading the last line of runes that were marked onto the solid granite of the memorial marker in the village square. The words themselves were first said by the village elder, written down by the village scribe, and carefully etched by the village craftsmen.

Seeing the early morning sun's beam light the tall memorial's tip, Hiccup began his jog back to the Haddock household.

2 months into the end of what was before a 300-year war between humans and dragons, Hiccup began to think that _maybe_ he should take more care about his body.

Partially since a section of it would never return to the boy, no matter how much he trained. Mostly because his _girlfriend_ once told of him "Because I _said_ _so_."

Still, Astrid Hofferson was not one known to take things to chance. The day that Hiccup was cleared fit to go back to working at the forge, Astrid soundly cleared him a day off from Gobber, to drag him into jogging.

It didn't stop there.

Pushups, pull-ups, sit-ups, weight lifting. Hiccup was put through every physical training regimen that Astrid's father said he once done in the heyday. That even involved swimming in Berk's frigid inner rivers. That was honestly Hiccup's favorite of the bunch, because it involved seeing Astrid in her swimwear, sometimes.

Jogging was, however, Hiccup's least favored. The first time he tried doing it, the prosthetic literally popped out, introducing his face to the beaten pathway that lined the village. With several tweaks, _a lot_ of practice, and a few encouraging kissed from Astrid, Hiccup was able to run properly with the metal contraption that was now his left leg.

Panting audibly by the time he reached his house, Hiccup nearly staggered when he turned the doorknob, his vision just that little bit fuzzy. He'd have to improve his stamina.

Once the door was shut and the warmth of the fireplace enveloped his being, Hiccup tore off the light green tunic that was drenched with his sweat and placed the soiled laundry hamper. Toothless, who was curled in a mass of black Night Fury by the fireplace was snoring lightly, snorting every once in awhile.

_Dreaming about chasing sheep, buddy?_ Hiccup thought, having half the mind to scratch the dragon behind its ear. His better judgment called against it as he poured himself a glass of water, relieving his parched throat. Toothless was grumpy if woken before his time.

The boy of 16 leaned against the kitchen counter, taking in the sounds of the stairs creaking with every thunderous _thud_ that was his father coming down from the upper floors.

"'Mornin', Hiccup. You're up early today," Stoick the Vast said, noting his son's lack of any upper clothes. "I know it's warm in here compared to outside, but don'cha think you're takin' it a little too much?"

"Morning, Dad. What, this?" Hiccup asked, looking at his own state of semi-undress. "Just finished jogging, gotta get into something else."

"Joggin' again, eh?" Stoick echoed, ripping a rather large chunk of the near rock-hard bread on the dining table. The Viking then chuckled. "Where has that Astrid been all these years when I needed her?"

"It probably wouldn't have worked so well back then. She'd still have thought I was Hiccup the Useless, like everyone else did," Hiccup saying it like it was a joke.

Stoick cringed internally, nevertheless. Light-hearted or not, self-deprecating humor was still, deprecating.

"Now you know that's not-" his father tried to start.

"No-no, Dad, it's okay. I was just as much like that back then, wasn't I? I mean – I get it all. But now things are better, right? I'm not Hiccup the Useless anymore, right?" Hiccup asked, putting on a small smile. Stoick could tell it was slightly forced.

"Hiccup, son, I don't want you to _ever_ call yourself by that name, ever again. I never called you that, Gobber never did, _none_ of the others in their right mind did," Stoick said in the usual reprimanding tone Hiccup was used to, but for the first time in 16 years, did he feel the loving undertone that only a father could give. He couldn't help but let his heart heat up a few notches at that.

He however, got what his father tried to vaguely disguise with _none of the others in their right mind_. There _were_ those that called Hiccup by that moniker in the past, and he'd be insulting the boy's intelligence if he said they didn't.

"But _now_ look at 'yeh, boy. The whole village respects you for who you are, what you can do, because you _proved_ yourself to them," Stoick continued. Why did the boy still continue to doubt himself?

Knowing his father's made the point clear, and Hiccup was out of his typhoon of self-esteem issues, the boy held out both hands as his father tried adding in more things.

"I-I do get it now, Dad. Really," Hiccup said, this time giving his father a sincere smile. He needed to get this situation out the window, _now_. "Must be the…_rush_ of the jog getting to my head and all."

Stoick took awhile to finally decide his son was really telling the truth, and he nodded. He noticed the boy heading up the stairs, possible to clean up, when he decided.

"Hiccup?" he said first, the boy already half-way up the stairs. He didn't answer verbally, but still paused to give Stoick a raised eyebrow. The silence also helped him to consider his next movement.

"Once you're done, son, meet me in the Mead Hall before the meeting starts," the burly Viking said, grabbing several scrolls from the table, making his way out the door.

Hiccup blinked before answering with a question. "Wha-? Wait, why?"

"Trainin'," his father hollered from halfway out the door before shutting it. Toothless woke up with a start, and after scanning the room with lidded eyes, they came to rest on Hiccup as he remained at the middle of the stairs.

Recognizing it couldn't find some obscure way to blame its rude awakening to Hiccup, the Night Fury simple grumbled some unintelligible grunts before going back to sleep.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

It was an absurd thing for the younger ones in Berk to be up and ready before the sun even shone on a Saturday. Yet on that day, the village council would meet in the Mead Hall at the break of dawn to discuss how things would go for the following week. How the herds of sheep were to be handled. What problem that needed the most attention. And currently, ways to further strengthen the Viking-dragon alliance.

Astrid Hofferson was understandably nervous.

This was the first time her father invited her along to the weekly meeting, after so many years of her wondering what they were like. She had seen the large, oval table that she knew they would be holding the meeting at. She herself stood at that table on several occasions, not knowing where her father would be placing himself during the meetings.

Now she knew.

Arkin Hofferson was the first few on Stoick's right hand side, and it brought some new sense of pride to her father. She remained still, shoulders high, hands behind her back as the adults discussed matters that were mostly white noise to her.

To force herself not to fall asleep, Astrid began scanning the room for familiar faces. Stoick the Vast was talking from the head of the table, his voice loud enough to drown out any other. His brother –and Snotlout's father- Spitelout, was scratching his stubble. Gobber wasn't doing any better. He was trying to re-secure that odd pebble he used to replace his missing tooth.

The Thornston couple was there and so were the Ingermans. She supposed that Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs were still happily sleeping the day away. Lucky scamps.

"…And while we're at it, my son Hiccup has already put in the designs for the new eastern catapult system," she heard Stoick said. It was the only bit so far concerning the only boy that could make her blush and go all giddy, so she listened intently.

"Both him and Gobber think it'll work better than the old ones did –but I think it'll be better if the lad explained it himself, eh?" Stoick offered, and to Astrid's surprise, said boy emerged from Stoick's left side. It wasn't a wonder that Stoick the Vast could overshadow Hiccup's still small frame, but it was a wonder _why_ the boy was here.

She had half a mind to ask him that herself, but remembering where she was, it could wait. She could, however, make out several people whispering their curiosity as to why the young Haddock was there.

"Uhh..h-hi," Hiccup began sheepishly, reaching into his vest to retrieve a very thickly folded parchment. He proceeded to unfold it until it was fully sprawled on the table, revealing the plans for a very ambitious tower.

"Since the dragons are no longer raiding our village, we've –that's to say, Gobber and I- have been making plans for a catapult system that works better against fast moving drakkars, instead of, you know, anti-air attacks," Hiccup shrugged, his nervousness apparent.

"Drakkars?" one of the other Vikings questioned. Astrid found it rather odd, too. Why would they design a catapult that was meant against their own boats?

"As I've said in the past meeting, when me an' the others travelled to the Meathead Clan, there had been rumors that a hit-and-run clan of Vikings were pillaging the nearby islands. Now the Meatheads 'ave already put up a step up to their own defenses, and I thought it was wise we did the same," Stoick explained.

Another Viking chuckled. "Oh I'd doubt they'd come and pay our village a visit when we've got Monstrous Nightmares for welcome wagons," he said to a good manly cheer from several others.

Stoick ran a hand through his great beard as Hiccup shifted uncomfortably. Astrid just wished she could be next to him.

"That being said, I'd rather be safe than sorry. Winter's comin' up and –eventhough we'll pummel those whelps to the ground, _should_ they decide to show up," Stoick began, more cheers and pounding of armor in agreement chorusing. "We're gonna be runnin' low on supplies. Now those who are comin' with me for the fishing voyage this week, there's no change in plans, but the rest of you are to help Hiccup and Gobber with the catapult. Any questions?"

The murmuring started again, but there were no signs of discontent. Astrid, however, had a sudden spark in her mind.

Raising her hand up and pushing herself slightly forward, she decided to voice herself out, because a raised hand amongst a sea of seven-foot tall Vikings wasn't exactly conspicuous.

"Can the dragons help out with the work?"

All eyes were on her now.

Being brought up to face any challenge straight on, Astrid did not back down. She did not waver from her footing, hand still raised, determination etched on her face.

"I was…thinking they would be able to help with the manual labor, like taking the logs straight from the forests or something."

After a few solid seconds that seemed to last forever, Astrid was beginning to dread that she spoke out of place. What would her father think? She dare not look him in the eyes as she was still looking intently at the village head for an answer.

It took Stoick awhile to think. Even if he was head of the village, the relationship between them and the dragons was not fully delegated by him. Most of that handled by…

Hiccup.

The boy in question moved ahead of his father, saying "Dad, I got this one," and looking at Astrid –no, not with the usual lopsided smile he'd give her- but with an expression she'd never seen before. It was calm, neutral, determined, and diplomatic. She'd witnessed it so many times from Stoick. He was definitely his father's son.

"I think they'd have no problem with helping us out, but we do need to work in tandem with them," he addressed Astrid before looking out to the others.

"As you could tell from now, they're willing to help out whenever they can, but they do need guidance. We'll see what they can help out with when the time comes."

With that he stepped back, the determined look still on his face as Stoick stepped up. Astrid could have sworn she saw a smile curve up the older Viking's face, and she couldn't help but mirror it. Hiccup just took his first step into fitting the role as future chief.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

After the meeting, the ranks in the Mead Hall thinned out while some stayed behind to grab the first batch of morning porridge. Stoick was hobbled on one of the larger tables with Gobber and Arkin whilst Hiccup and Astrid were eating on the table right next to them.

"That was pretty brave of you to ask that question," Hiccup remarked, earning a beaming smile from his girlfriend. She nudged her shoulder, bumping his in the progress.

"Me? You had a bit of your father in you when you gave your answer. Very chief-like."

Hiccup shrugged. "Hey, one's gotta learn, right? I think I needed that, though. Definitely a boost to my self-esteem after what happened earlier," he lamented. Astrid immediately put down her spoonful of porridge.

"What? What happened?" she asked, those fierce gray-blue eyes fixed with such concern that the auburn-haired boy had to give in.

He explained to her about what he and his dad talked about back home, and when he was done, Astrid placed a hand firmly on his shoulder.

"Hiccup, your dad's right. The circumstances were different back then; people didn't see what you really had to offer. But look at you now. You played a role in today's weekly meeting. You talked and people _listened_. Isn't that proof enough?" she asked, leaning closer to him.

Hiccup took a deep breath and exhaled audibly, bridging the gap until Astrid was laying her head on his shoulders. Of course she was right. And it took Astrid just a second later to come to that conclusion herself.

He played a role today. All of it was just to reassure the fact that Hiccup was _far_ from being useless.

She stole a glance at the man she knew orchestrated Hiccup's moment of glory, and found him stealing one at them too. Astrid and Stoick locked eyes for the briefest of moments, and he nodded knowingly at her. She parroted the nod, both in gesture and meaning. They would both do whatever it took for him.

"I should apologize to my dad for making him worry this morning," Hiccup guiltily mumbled.

Astrid lifted herself up, a finger almost directly in front of Hiccup's nose.

"Never apologize more than once," she said, meaning business. Hiccup, however, flustered. "But, I never _did_ say sorr-"

"You already did when you spoke up for yourself during the meeting. Now finish your porridge. Ruffnut invited us to go fishing today," Astrid said, Hiccup obeying said order with a smile.

It wouldn't be very Viking-like to admit, but Hiccup loved it when Astrid bossed him around. She was always beautiful, but the commanding tone in her voice was a turn-on of sorts. He didn't dare tell her _where _exactly he imagined she'd be giving him orders, though.

Finishing the meal in several spoonfuls, he then proceeded to play with Astrid's hair as she was still finishing hers.

"That tickles," she said, wiping her mouth on a clean cloth. He abandoned the act and snaked an arm around her waist, blowing gently into her ear. The act sent shivers down the girl's spine.

"Mmm…" she purred with a mouthful of oats. "Do that again," she said huskily as she swallowed. Hiccup needed no more coaxing.

Gently blowing again, the soft wind and the warmth of Hiccup's breath travelled from her earlobe to her cheek, causing ticklish sensations all over. He was so cute when he was being sweet.

Ignoring the fact that they were still in the Mead Hall, with _both_ their fathers on the next table, Astrid turned her head slightly, willing to greet eager lips.

Instead she was met with a pucker-lipped Hiccup as his eyes were closed, still blowing gently at her face. The wind made her eye twitch when it came in contact, and she tried her best to suppress a giggle.

The blonde then edged her way forward trying to match her head with his, and when both pairs of lips came in contact, Hiccup almost froze. He wasn't expecting a kiss, but then again, kisses with Astrid were never predictable.

A second later he responded in kind, leaning a little more into Astrid as the kiss deepened. He was hoping that maybe, just _maybe_ the adults wouldn't look their way.

The taste of the porridge was mixed into Astrid's lips, and it was a welcome new thing for Hiccup. He dared to go a notch further, prodding his tongue ever so slightly into her. When he felt no resistance or reproach, he ventured more.

"Mmmff, not here. Dads," she breathed as she broke the kiss, Hiccup regaining his ability to think.

"Oh, right," he said, sitting himself upright as he adjusted his tunic. "Oops."

Astrid tentatively tucked several locks of her hair back into place, trying to rid herself of what blush remained.

"You think they saw that?" Hiccup asked, leaning again to Astrid's ear. The girl clicked her teeth when his breath once again tickled her. "You gotta stop _doing_ that," she seethed, getting up.

"Sorry," he admitted sheepishly, trailing behind her as they left the Mead Hall, all 3 adults snickering behind their backs.

"So, do you think we should be movin' the wedding date?"

"Shut it, Gobber."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

Even with the large-scale fishing voyage coming along soon to stock food for the winter, Ruffnut insisted they try and have a little fun fishing while the waters weren't frozen, yet.

"Still doesn't explain why we can't just grab the dragons and net those fish," Tuffnut mumbled as his line came back empty, for the fifth time.

"Then it spoils the fun of the sport. You weren't thinking we'd be catching _schools_ of them, weren't you?" Ruffnut retorted, shaking her head.

The idea of using the dragons to help in fishing was actually Fishleg's. During a normal fly-by of the island, his Gronckle deviated a little to the outer seas, where it dived once, soaking the large Viking in sea water. In its mouth was a giant sardine that would have taken the average Viking some time to fish out of the water.

Trying it again with Hiccup, Toothless and a rather big net, they managed to catch a nice amount of Icelandic cod. That was enough for Stoick to get the plan moving.

It was all quiet until Snotlout whooped when his third fish of the day was reeled. "Man this is _easy_," he said, admiring his Icelandic cod.

Tuffnut muttered something about where Snotlout could shove his prizes as Ruffnut sniggered. The sun was up and shining now, and the female Thornston was beginning to wonder where Astrid and Hiccup were.

The others were here within minutes of each other, even Snotlout, who was a known late riser.

"They'll be here," Fishleges lazily announced, examining why his catch had a discolored spot of scales.

"See, even _Fishlegs_ has a catch. This is _so_ unfair," Tuffnut groaned, setting his fishing pole down as he got up to stretch. Ruffnut quietly reeled in her second catch –it was bigger than the first- and placed it in her basket when Tuffnut had his back turned to her. She wasn't really in the mood for yet another fight. Not just yet.

That was when the bushes behind them began to rustle for a fraction of a second before a blur of green dashed out of it and slammed straight into the Male Thornston, both of them tumbling to the ground.

"Oh I am hurt, I am _very_ hurt!"

"Ow, don't you _ever_ take off that helmet, Tuff!"

"I'll answer you once you get the Hel off me!"

With that, Hiccup managed to untangle himself from the gangly Tuffnut just as Astrid made her way through the bushes.

For a second the Hofferson girl was greeted to the sight of Hiccup sprawled all over Tuffnut, and it sent shivers down her spine. Not all necessarily bad, though.

"Took _you_ both bloody long enough. What did you do, take the time to make out underneath each _tree_ all the way here?" Ruffnut asked, clearly exasperated. She liked to keep good time.

Astrid wasn't very much pleased at Ruffnut's stab, but she _did_ like the idea of it. Maybe she could drag Hiccup afterwards….

"We were in the weekly meeting 'till just now," Hiccup said as he brushed off several twigs and leaves from his tunic. "We got up earlier than _all_ of you."

That made the earlier group immediately stop what they were doing.

Hiccup noticed this, and immediately felt worried.

"What? It's not exactly impossible for someone to wake up before dawn, rig-"

"_You _were in the meeting? _Both _of you?" Tuffnut asked, not even fully up to both his feet yet.

"Yeah," Astrid said absentmindedly as bent over a little to dust some dirt from Hiccup's rear. It was honestly just an excuse to grab a handful of that boy's ass.

"I stand corrected. Now this, _this_ is unfair," Tuffnut ranted, hands up in the air in mock surrender as he trudged back to his fishing spot.

Hiccup really did not understand what was wrong with this whole picture.

"I don't get it. _Why_ is Tuffnut upset?" he asked Astrid, wondering if the Thornston shared the same monthly woes that his twin did.

"Lemme let you in on something, cuz," Snotlout said as he turned his head, smiling at Hiccup. "Ever since we were twelve, we've been _dying_ to attend even _one_ of the weekly meetings. It was almost as bad as us waiting for dragon training to start back then."

"We thought that getting in there would mean we'd mean something to the village, cause like, only the coolest of the cool get to go in. My dad, Tuff and Ruff's folks, Fishlegs' parents, Astrid's dad, _your_ dad, of course. We were bummed as Hel when they'd always just shoo us off."

"Well my dad brought me in 'cause he thought it would be good training for me," Hiccup said with a shrug, accepting a fishing pole from Ruffnut.

"Same here," Astrid muttered as she got her own fishing pole, hooking on a worm.

"Hey, can either of you bring your dads over to my place and let them tell _my_ dad what a good idea that is?" Snotlout asked, earning a none-too-friendly push from Astrid.

Hiccup dropped his line straight down the short cliff, silently knowing he wasn't going to get anything today. His entire daily dose of luck should have been fully diminished with his spot in the limelight in the meeting _and_ getting a kiss from Astrid in the Mead Hall.

His theory was further confirmed when Astrid sat close to him, leaning her head on his shoulders. How lucky can one guy get?

"You're not _still_ thinking about it, aren't you?" she asked.

"Wha? No!" Hiccup half-chuckled his answer out. "I was just thinking about how lucky I sometimes am."

Tuffnut was busy asking Fishlegs how he got his fish while Snotlout kept bragging about how he captured his _sixth_ fish now. Ruffnut just laid straight on the grass, for Thor knows what reason. For all intents and purposes, Hiccup and Astrid were alone.

"Lucky I even survived the fight with the Green Death, lucky these guys here are even talking to me, lucky that I have you with me…."

It was sweet, really. She couldn't help but smile and give him a peck on the cheek, he deserved as much.

But when she decided it wasn't exactly enough, Astrid placed a gentle hand on his left cheek and motioned his face to hers, smoky blue eyes locking again with those intense green ones.

"You're too cute for your own good," Astrid whispered before Hiccup took hold of her lips. Unlike their previous make out attempts, this kiss was plainly chaste as neither of their arms were snaked around each other, groping certain areas that would even make Loki cringe.

Breaking for air, Hiccup leaned his forehead onto hers, their noses rubbing lightly. Astrid giggled again as it tickled, but more because she liked _this_. Using her left arm for support, she hooked her hand to the crook of his neck, silently gesturing that "_I don't want you to move away, just yet."_

Hiccup complied with the gentlest touching of lips that Astrid knew only he could provide.

"That's my boy," she huskily said.

Deciding to take the reins, Hiccup peppered her right cheek with even _more_ of those infernal soft kisses as he travelled inwards, taking her earlobe into his mouth.

She groaned her appeasement at it. _Gods_ it was amazing how much he loved nibbling that spot.

Knowing that since everyone else was to Astrid's left (or his right), he flicked his tongue ever so slightly into her ear, earning a jolt and a sharp gasp from her.

Getting all hot and bothered when they were practically in public like this, was a turn-on for the girl.

Her breathing became shallower as Hiccup left slow, wet licks to the middle of her neck. He loved the impossible smoothness that only that area of her neck –and her thighs…- had.

The boy was sure he heard the faintest whimper from her end, and a rare, evil smirk crept its way up his lips.

He worked his way down to the bony base of her neck, taking in the contours with his tongue, and stopping to suck just a little too hard at one spot.

"Ngaaaaah," she groaned, trying to keep her voice in check. "Hiccup…they're gonna find…"

"Let them," was his deep, husky growl of a reply, and that voice of sheer lust made her abandon all thoughts of _why_ this was a bad idea.

He was daringly tugging at the collar of her tunic, basically trying to get as much skin as possible without having to taking the whole thing off. Because a shirtless Astrid was _beyond_ conspicuous.

Now where had this boy gotten the courage be this daring?

Before she could put anymore thought to it, the kissing and licking stopped.

Eyes still closed, she thought he was readjusting himself or something, but nothing else came.

Opening her eyes, she saw him still at the base of her neck, but looking oddly at the fishing pole that he was still holding onto the entire time.

"Hiccup?"

"I think I got a bite," he said, straightening himself up. Forgetting the fact that the boy just left her high and dry in the middle of his kisses, she sat up right next to him and see as Hiccup began to struggle pulling the line back in.

"It's a big one," he said, trying to stand up and gain more footing.

Knowing he didn't really have the same upper body strength as Fishlegs or Snotlout did, Astrid got up to help him pull, immediately giving enough force to yank the fish right out of the water.

"It's even bigger than the one Snotlout caught," Astrid remarked, Hiccup feeling rather proud of himself.

"Great, just great, they'd been here for what, _five_ minutes and he's already caught one?" Tuffnut said, shaking his head. "This is _so_ not my lucky day."

**A/N: Okay, I *may* have gone a little long on this one. Do I need a beta reader? **

**Aaaaanyway, do tell me what you guys think, or give some suggestion as to what you'd wanna see, 'cause with classes starting again, I don't think I can make a progressive major story arc as of yet without dragging you guys on for months, literally. **


	2. Chapter 2

**I figured I might as well squeeze in as much time for the second chapter while I still have the chance.**

**Truly, reviews do give me the spur to continue, and I wanted to thank **_**sweet blossom 89 **_**for such a long and thorough review that helped this poor soul go on. =)**

**Do tell me what you think, yeah? **

**In a Day**

_Ull guide us through the early winter winds,_

_Thor guard us while we're at sea._

_Let us return with bounty a-plenty,_

_Enough for four moons' feasts for you and for me._

**-Poem sung by Berk's Vikings as they sail away for the last fishing voyage of winter-**

Almost everything in Berk was as tough and resilient as its inhabitants. Trees in Berk could grow to the height of 30 full-grown Vikings and weigh just as much, if not more.

Hauling timber wasn't exactly the most anticipated job as it required at least 7 of Berk's finest to lumber it over and across the forests. But what would have taken the better part of a few hours was now shaved down to several minutes with air-lift by dragon.

Snotlout was having the time of his life as his own Monstrous Nightmare, Fireworm grabbed one half of an exceptionally large oak, the other half handled by Ruffnut and Tuffnut with their Zippleback, Jabber & Bender.

"Woohoo!" Snotlout whooped as he waved his arms in the air, a harmless act with the harness secured firmly to his dragon.

"He seems happy," Tuffnut noted, his twin sister shrugging as she filed her nails, midflight.

"Aren't you? This is something fun _and_ it gets our folks off our backs," she said.

"True, just wish we'd be the ones on tree-felling duty, though," Tuff grumbled, just loud enough for his sister to hear him through the raging winds.

Hiccup and Toothless were coordinating the situation from the base camp where Vikings and dragons alike took down tree after tree.

Toothless had been a rather unique help as his thunderous spitfires were precise and powerful enough to blast the tough oaks right out of their roots.

"I still think it takes the sport right out of it,' one Viking said, shouldering his rather large logging axe.

"But at this rate we'll have twenty logs ready by the time we'd normally get one down," Astrid said on board her Nadder, Cloudbreaker. With Breaker's fire not suitable with the radical new technique of logging, Astrid volunteered to help Hiccup coordinate the air-lifting dragons.

"Aye. 'Tis a waste we never thought of all of this sooner. Could've saved me back from _a lot_ of turmoil," the Viking said as he wandered off, wistfully massaging as spot on his mountainous back.

Astrid then took to the skies with one firm beat of Cloudbreaker's wings, keeping her eyes on several pairs of logging dragons making their rounds back to the catapult's construction site.

Being the de facto second-in-command to Hiccup when it came to dragon relations, Astrid knew her place was here, side-by-side with her boy gently hovering with Toothless above the tree canopies, felling oak after oak.

"You think he's getting tired?" Astrid hollered as her Breaker came closer to Toothless.

Both dragon and rider ceased their duties for that moment to look at Astrid, wide black and yellow eyes _and_ green ones twinkling at her.

"I think he can take a few more, right buddy?" Hiccup asked, gently scratching the base of Toothless's head.

The dragon warbled his reply with a gentle nod, his powerful black wings giving one big push as he fired a larger, more fearsome bolt of plasma in between two strong-looking oaks, causing both of them to crash in a grim symphony of crackling wood.

From the sky, Astrid could see that a huge bald patch laid conspicuously where all the Vikings and Toothless have taken down the trees. Still, it was barely noticeable if one took into account that there was still a sea of trees as far as the eye could see.

The reason the village never expanded to these parts was because the terrains were too uneven to lay good foundations, but it meant that there was a healthy stock of logs just ready for the taking.

"How many d'you think that makes it?" Hiccup asked as he wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. Even with the winter winds creeping in, sweating was still unavoidable.

Astrid took out a piece parchment where she jotted down the totals of both human and dragon-felled logs, adding in the two more that Toothless took down.

"That makes it twenty six, in total. Argis and his team are still taking down one over there," Astrid said, pointing to one location where Hiccup could see a tree wobbling. "Do you think that's enough?"

Hiccup took a second to think. He wasn't entirely sure if twenty six trees were enough for the catapult. A good strong drakkar could already take up at least four.

That was when he spotted a rotund youth perched on top of his equally rotund dragon.

"Fishlegs!" Hiccup bellowed, addressing the lad who was busy scrawling notes on his large notebook. Astrid took a second to wonder why the large Viking was summoned. Then it hit her.

Of course.

Fishlegs' father, Gillgut Ingerman was the village's best contractor, and like his father, the younger Ingerman had a knack for calculations. So much could be said for his dragon statistic-spouting antics of old.

"Astrid says we've got twenty six trees now," Hiccup said, pausing as the earlier mentioned tree came down with a mighty chorus of "Timber!" from the team. "Make that twenty seven."

Fishlegs referred to his notes while muttering some calculations out loud.

"Uhh…we should have enough, but we'll need a few more in case the base needs more strengthening. What wood's left by then could be used for the winters, right?" Fishlegs said, offering the parchment for Hiccup to read.

It was a miniaturized, but more complicated version of the plans for the catapult. All predicted angles and measurements were scribbled carefully and Hiccup could recognize Gobber's more…_flamboyant_ handwriting amidst Fishlegs' careful, neat ones.

Handing back the parchment to the Ingerman, Hiccup nodded at him. "We'll let the others take the last few down. I think Toothless needs a drink after all this workout."

Toothless warbled curiously as his eyes went wide as battle-shields again. Dragons always had a surprisingly good grasp of the human language, and a drink was a welcomed prospect.

Fishlegs nodded pensively while observing the Night Fury. "He deserves it," he said, all business.

Astrid observed as the two most intelligent boys of their age group continued to discuss some other jargon that she couldn't quite make out. She found it amusing how they could just sit there in midair and talk like they were back in the Mead Hall. Surely Toothless and Rolling Thunder (Fishlegs' aptly named Gronckle) couldn't be amused with being treated like flying dinner tables.

And as if by the hands of Fate, Toothless jerked Hiccup slightly, breaking the boy's attention. "Oh, right, sorry buddy," Hiccup said with an apologetic rub to the dragon's ears. Fishlegs understood perfectly.

"I'll be heading for the furnaces, Hiccup. We'll be needing to start on the iron parts soon," Fishlegs said, waving goodbye to both teens as both he and his Gronckle buzzed away.

"You wanna join us, Astrid?"

The girl looked up again to gaze into his inviting gesture, and she took a second to survey the condition. The last few of the logs were being lifted away and several more trees came down. They'd have enough soon.

"Sure, why not."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

Contrary to what others might have thought, dragons loved water. Internally they were already as hot as a furnace, and in the summers a cool dip in the seas and rivers were one of life's few luxuries.

Even if it was approaching winter, Toothless did enjoy dipping his head into the water, taking in several mouthfuls of it. Hiccup made sure he kept his distance from the jet black dragon as he refilled his canteen. Toothless did like to try his best to drench his rider.

Astrid, taking in handfuls of the water a little further upstream, couldn't help but shake her head as Breaker stood by to admire herself in the water's reflection.

"You like fine, girl. Now get off your spiked butt and let's get going," she said, earning yet another indignant squawk as the Nadder crunched through the early snow that always fell here before reaching the village.

By the time they reached Hiccup and Toothless, the black dragon was trying its best to play hide-and-seek with the boy. Astrid found it utterly comical since the dragon's black hide did nothing to hide its utter contrast with the pure unblemished snow around him.

The wagging tail with its blazing red prosthetic didn't help, either.

"So I can place a safe bet on whose winning?" Astrid asked, sitting next to Hiccup.

"He knows he's not gonna win. It's mostly just for the heck of it all," Hiccup said, pointing his finger straight at the Night Fury, whose ears perked straight up. Toothless then jumped from its hiding spot and hobbled over to Hiccup in a pace that worried him.

"Oh no. No-no-no-no-no-no-ARGHHH!"

Astrid had to lean a little to her left to dodge the black blur as he pounced on Hiccup. Still, she had to brush off some bits of flying snow that landed on her, Breaker squawking warningly at Toothless. The blue dragon slowly preened her rider, making sure every bit of snow was off Astrid. The Nadder insisted that both itself _and_ her rider had to always look their best.

"Get _off_ me Toothless! It's too cold for this!" Hiccup whined, trying to push the Night Fury off. Astrid thought the dragon was just giving Hiccup a reward for 'finding' him, but the boy needed a hand.

She rummaged into her winter coat's pocket, grabbing a handful of kittygrass and shoving it in front of Toothless' schnozzle. The dragon rolled straight onto its back, instantly sedated and making gurgling noises.

"Followed my lead, I see?" Hiccup asked, a little proud of himself even as he grabbed a handful of snow to wash off the dragon slobber. Hiccup found out that having a pocketful of the curious grass could solve any dragon-related problems, at least for the while.

"Don't look so smug. You could've been stuck under him 'till supper if it weren't for me," Astrid said, sticking her tongue out at him.

Getting up, the boy walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her, giving the blonde maiden a quick kiss on the lips. Mmm…kissing in the cold was an undiscovered new favorite.

"Well I wouldn't mind getting stuck under _you_ 'till supper _anyday_," he whispered smokily into her ear before letting go to fetch his drunk dragon, leaving a rather flustered Astrid with a furious blush that had nothing to do with the weather.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

Sawing wood. Nothing was ever quite as enjoyable as slicing up wood with a jagged edge, feeling the grain go against metal. Even the sound was one of a kind.

Forgetting his earlier woes about not being on tree-felling duty, Tuffnut took pleasure in sawing up huge planks of the oaks, Snotlout taking care of the other side.

Ruffnut dragged their Zippleback home since her part of the job was done. She wanted _nothing_ to do with "menial manual labor," as she penned it.

Tuff, however, found it liberating that his sister wasn't here. He took the liberty of removing his outer layers of clothing, save his sleeveless tunic, flexing what muscles he had while sawing and _sawing_ in front of a group of giggling girls.

"Now isn't _this_ the life?" Tuff asked rhetorically.

"Shut up and saw, ladies' man," Snotlout sniggered. Truthfully, he didn't really mind the girls. He could've sworn some of them were ogling him too. These kinds of little things did wonders for the male ego.

Snotlout was just about to finish his end of the log when Fishlegs hovered on by.

"When you guys are done with this one, they're calling in a break for lunch," Fishlegs said before moving on.

"Lunch break. Sweet!" Snotlout said, increasing his speed while Tuffnut sneezed. That the dark-haired boy stop.

"Dude, you got yourself a cold." It was a statement, not a question.

"Do not," Tuffnut insisted, before sneezing again while sawing downwards.

"Put your jacket on, pea-brain. A couple of girls ain't worth the trouble," Snotlout grumbled. Great, now he sounded like his mother. He tried to banish those negative thoughts away with what they'd be having for lunch.

It was Monday, so the Mead Hall would have roasted turkey legs and potatoes. Mmm…turkey legs.

That lifted his spirits up as he continued to saw even more. Then came the loudest sneeze yet.

"For the love of –put your damn jacket on! Does _winter sickness_ mean _nothing_ to you?"

That stopped Tuffnut, and the girls, _and_ every Viking in the vicinity of Snotlout's snarl.

The winter sickness was no joking matter. It killed more people within the span of winter than the dragons could in a year, in the past.

"…Right. My bad," Tuffnut muttered, putting his clothes back on as the girls slowly crept away, the other Vikings going back to their work.

It was all awkward silence between them as they continued sawing until there was none left of what was once a mighty oak. Leaving their jagged edges behind, both boys walked up to the Mead Hall in the same silence that could have been cleaved through with a hatchet.

"You _do _remember I lost my grandma to the previous winter," Tuffnut said suddenly, his tone too neutral to have come from the same lad.

"All the more the reason why I tanned your hide, moron," Snotlout growled.

As they burst through the Hall's grand doors, Snotlout and Tuffnut plopped themselves down near the fireplace, Tuffnut sniffling back some mucous.

"Two turkey legs," Snotlout gestured to a barmaid passing by. "And a ginger tea."

"Got yourself a cold there, sweetie?" she asked with a smile almost as warm as the fire itself.

Snotlout shook his head while pursing his lips. "It's for _genius_ here who thought going sleeveless outside was a good idea."

The barmaid took one look at Tuffnut as _tsk-_ed at him. "You boys really should learn to take care of yourselves now. That lucky streak ain't gonna last forever," she said before sauntering off.

"See? Even _she_ knows how to give you a good tanning, and she barely met you a minute ago," Snotlout continued.

Tuffnut didn't answer for awhile, instead staring off into blank space. That made Snotlout blink.

"…Tuff?" he asked.

"…She's hot," Tuffnut replied dreamily, Snotlout slamming his palm onto his face.

"Oy…you-are-hopeless."

"Says the guy who thought he stood a chance with Astrid."

"Hey, that was a _phase_ that I was-"

"_Sshh! _Here she comes!" Tuffnut hissed, putting his hands together on the table and acting docile.

For a second Snotlout thought he was talking about Astrid until the earlier barmaid came by, laden with a tray of food that smelled so inviting.

"Two turkey legs," she said, taking down to plates and setting them in front of both boys. "And a ginger tea. Be a good boy and finish it up, 'kay?"

With a wink, she walked off back to the counter, Tuffnut entranced by the way her hips were shaking with each step.

Even Snotlout had to steal a glance at that.

"Told you she was hot," Tuffnut mumbled, taking a long sip off the tankard, exhaling audibly.

"…Yeah, she was, I'll give you that."

"You think I could ask for her name?" Tuffnut suggested optimistically.

"You finish that tea like _a good boy_ and we'll see."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

If there was something to enjoy after a hard day's work, it was the sunset. Astrid would spend her evenings waiting for it to arrive after a thorough workout.

"Have you ever just…_waited_ for the sunset to come?" she found herself asking Hiccup as they both sat in his room in the empty forge, the orange sun bathing them for the last few minutes of the day.

"I used to wait for it while working in here. I get a good view of it," he replied.

"So I see," she said with a grin. It was a nice view, with one of the forge's long windows framing the sunset.

"What would you think about?"

Hiccup blinked at her. "Pardon?"

Astrid blushed a little. "Well…I'd usually think about stuff while watching the sun set, like what I'd do the following day, you know? Don't tell me that busy mind of yours never did that."

"I'd think about what I could do the next day too. And the next after that. Back then I couldn't expect much of my life, being –you know- myself. All I had to look forward to back then was weapon after weapon being mended, and watching you walk back from –uhhhh."

Noticing he broke off mid-sentence, Astrid looked up to see Hiccup scratching the back of his head and looking at the roof ornament of the Bergthor house like it was the most interesting thing around.

"I'm sorry," Astrid asked, trying to hide the sly-ness in her tone. Oh this was too good to let go. "Watch _me_ walking back from _where_?"

Hiccup was stuck between a rock and a hard place/Astrid. Either risk bodily harm for withholding information or face eternal embarrassment from the lass.

Which did you think the boy chose?

"I…would watch you walk back from your workout everyday with your hair tied back into this cute ponytail and your axe would be hanging from your shoulders and –gahhhhh, this is _humiliating_," Hiccup said, burying his face in his palms, Astrid thankful he couldn't see her practically sealing her mouth shut with her hand to stop any laughing form cracking out.

Oh _Gods_ the boy was so cute. She could imagine him sighing at the sight of her sauntering, glistening form walking back from the forests with her tunic practically sticking to her chest and her skirt just that little bit loose from all that running and-

Wait. Hiccup was drooling over her wet, compromising self _everyday_ in the past?

"You were quite the pervert, weren't you?" she asked, eyelids narrowing and that evil smirk of hers crooking up again. She would have slugged the boy a good one if she didn't find an ogling Hiccup to be ridiculously cute.

Hiccup was positively tomato-red now as he struggled to form a sentence. Great, now he's a pervert in her mind.

"W-was _not_," he tried. _Very _convincing, surely.

They remained quiet for the next few minutes until a swift blow to the arm caught Hiccup off-guard.

"Ow! Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Just don't hit me again!" Hiccup whined. The gesture of the punch hurt more than the real thing.

"Oh quit your yelping, you big baby," she chastened, massaging the spot. "_That _was for undressing me with your eyes in the past."

Hiccup turned beet red. "I did _not-"_

One raised eyebrow from Astrid shut him up.

"…Okay, fine, I _did_ do it a few times."

Astrid smiled as she rewarded him for letting her have her way with a soft, slow kiss. Partially the kiss was also an indirect way of rewarding him for all those times he…_admired_ her. She felt absolutely giddy now that she envisioned his eyes all over her.

He _did_ admit to imagining her naked. It wasn't exactly an uncommon thing with so many hormonal boys in Berk, but thinking that it was _him, only_ _Hiccup_ that had her on his mind in Odin knows _what_ kinds of compromising situations…it lit something in her.

Shifting her legs slightly, the kiss deepened as Astrid refused to let go, grabbing the back of the boy's neck to make sure _he_ didn't relent, either.

Screw the need to breathe. His mouth was hers to do whatever she wanted.

So was the rest of his body, in time.

"So? What kind of thoughts did you have of me exactly?" she whispered, her other hand playing with his russet hair.

Hiccup was barely in the position to answer. He couldn't get a word beyond a weak "Meep," out of his quickly drying mouth.

"I'll take that as something dirty. Was my hair tied this way?" she asked, straddling the boy on his seat as she grabbed a leather band, tying her hair up into the most attractive of ponytails.

"Dear _Gods_!" Hiccup gasped, completely limp. He now had a lapful of Astrid and he had _no_ idea what to do with that circumstance.

Well, he _did_ have several suggestions he had been keeping in the back of his mind for ages, but Astrid with her blonde hair glowing ethereally with the soft orange glow of the sunset in that ponytail completely shut down his mind's ability to think.

The new feeling that Hiccup had stirred in her gave Astrid the courage to be this bold. She was rather tired of simple kisses and shy touches, (as wonderful as they still would always be…) and decided they needed to step things up,.

Both her hands were on his chest, softly massaging his pectorals through his shirt as she slowly began working her hands downwards. With the forge's fire burning, both teens had no need for their fur jackets. Astrid even had a regular skirt on instead of the spiked variant she usually wore. Gobber was done for the day, to boot. It was too perfect a situation.

"Now's the time to put your hands _here_ to keep me from falling," she said amusingly as she guided Hiccup's hands to her hips, his fingers resting at the bony tips.

Even through her tunic, Hiccup could feel the smoothness that could only be Astrid's skin. The warmth definitely confirmed the thought.

"So? Was this part of the fantasy?" she asked.

This felt too vivid to be real. He _had_ fantasies of her straddling him down like a race horse and doing things that would shame Loki for all He was worth with that damn ponytail, but never had he thought it would be real.

He also dreamed that he would one day catch a Night Fury –oh wait, that bit was real.

He was brought back to the forge with a soft pinch of his cheeks from Astrid.

"Hey, no daydreaming. I'm right here, you know."

Hiccup blinked. Yes, she was really here.

"I was just thinking whether I was still dreaming or not. You're too beautiful right now to be real," he blurted out, full with honesty that made Astrid giggle.

"I can show you how _real_," Astrid crooned, grinding her torso against his. "I can be."

She loved that throaty groan he gave when she did that. From now on, she'll make sure to get that out of him at least once a day.

In response to her grinding, Hiccup dragged his hands from the end of her hips to grabbing handfuls of her thighs once again, his fingers curling in from the immense pleasure she gave him.

"Ngaahh…" Astrid mooned as the warmth of Hiccup's firm hands hit home, throwing her head backwards as she arched her back, giving Hiccup a _very_ good view of her chest. His mouth was just _this close _to-

Astrid then bent back forwards, both her arms snaking around the Haddock boy's head, his face buried in the crook of her neck. A welcomed alternative, as far as Hiccup was concerned.

Suckling at the nape of her neck, he worked his way downwards to her rhythmic grunts. In response, Astrid now began grinding her hips downwards, eliciting a very loud groan from Hiccup. Oh that felt _so_ good.

"Oh Astrid," he whispered into her ear before biting on the earlobe, the girl biting her lower lip to stifle the moan that came from it. It was impossible how this boy could know how to make her feel so good.

Astrid brought her fingers downwards again as she reached for the limits of Hiccup's tunic, proceeding to encroach them inwards.

Hiccup's stomach muscles jerked a little as Astrid's hands glided on top of them. This was the first time the girl has touched his torso, and did it feel wonderful. The muscles seemed to dance in response to Astrid's touch as she proceed upwards, tugging more of his shirt off in the process.

Usually it would've been the other way round, but Astrid found it completely sexy to have Hiccup bare his top to her. He sheepishly helped her remove the whole thing off, tossing it aside.

Hiccup kept his hands on her thighs, but Astrid could tell that he wanted to cover himself out of sheer shyness. She smiled. This was her Hiccup. The boy who did not have the wall of muscles that other Vikings did, but had a slender physique that she could grasp with both hands. All those exercises that she put him through did help to mold his abs and chest ever so little, and telltale sinewy chords of muscles were forming on his arms.

He was barely the walking stick that he used to be. It wasn't painfully obvious, but he was slowly filling out in all the right places and Astrid took absolute joy in the fact that she will be the only one to notice those changes.

_**More**__workouts for him in the future, __**just**__ to be sure_ Astrid thought slyly, one of her hands grasping his chest, the other rubbing his stomach.

"Astrid…" he breathed, shifting his grip again to grasp the plump flesh of her ass, causing her to whine. Wow, that felt good.

"Mmm, strong hands," she remarked, spurring him to slowly massage the precious flesh that he's been dreaming for so long to touch (besides another pair somewhere in front…).

She began that infernal grinding session again, Astrid able to feel something very firm and restrained rubbing against her inner thighs.

Hiccup could feel something soft rubbing against his…cudgel, and could only guess what exactly it was.

"Oh damn, I'm so sorry, Astrid," he said, trying to hide the bulge.

"Why are you apologizing? Not as if it wasn't something _expected_, right?" she asked, the boy gulping. How is it that she can make the most plain of words so erotic?

Knowing now where exactly the bulge was located, Astrid pushed her core against it again, making her release a high-pitched squeal. _Damn_ that was good.

Hiccup's fingers found their way further inwards, pressing slightly into the crevice, or as much as the skirt would allow, at any rate.

"Oh Gods it's _too_ hot in here," she growled, crossing her arms to remove her tunic. Hiccup never saw anything as entrancing as seeing Astrid's tunic travel upwards over her body, revealing inch after inch of pure creamy skin that begged to be touched.

Still, he kept his hands on her ass, waiting for her to fully remove her top.

With one last smooth motion, Astrid tugged the tunic off her and tossed it to join Hiccup's shirt. When she did that, the leather band binding her hair together came off, making her hair fall down in rhythm with her head, sunset-drenched blonde hair curling at the ends.

The sunset shone around Astrid's pristine alabaster skin, every glistening drop of sweat not unlike diamonds dotting parts of her skin. Hiccup was thankful that she still had her chest bindings on, because it was the only thing keeping him from dying a happy man.

Her hair now a tousled mess, with that glowing skin and smoldering lips, and not to forget those smoky blue eyes of hers was still too much for Hiccup not to claim for his own.

Capturing her lips first, he almost lost his restraint when Astrid leaned into him, bare skin crashing against bare skin. He quickly travelled downwards, suckling softly on her chin before going straight down to her neck, earning rewarding groans from his girl.

She arched back a little more to close the shutters on the only open window, shutting them away from the sunset, but also shunning away any unwanted attention. Last thing she wanted was to give the entire village a free show.

With the candles lit prior to that, the soft orange glow still wrapped itself around Astrid as Hiccup proceeded to kiss the bony edges of her shoulders, tasting skin that he has never met before. His hands carefully made its way up her back, running against her spine.

It sent shivers down her, the way Hiccup was touching Astrid all over.

His lips soon dived hungrily from her shoulders to the base of her cleavage, yearning for more. He could already feel the coast of the suppleness that could only be Astrid's mounds.

"Not yet, love," she said sweetly, running her fingers through his hair.

Hiccup grumbled his displeasure as she pushed him backwards into his seat, leaning on his chest.

"My turn," she said in a predetorial manner, her full supple lips claiming his neck. Hiccup let out a throaty moan as Astrid sucked hard on a small bit of flesh, clenching it between her teeth, biting ever so slightly to give enough pressure for Hiccup to squirm.

She then let go, the flesh slowly blending back with the rest of his skin, but not without leaving its mark. There, she marked him as hers, and _only_ hers. Only _she_ will ever get to do such unspeakable things to Hiccup, and she'll destroy anyone who dares challenge her.

Fuelled by the possessive spur, she began lewdly trailing her tongue down his chest, resting in the crevice before biting on his left nipple.

"_Sweet Freya!"_ Hiccup cried out at Astrid's boldness. Just exactly _who_ was this sex goddess and what was she doing in his beloved's body?

Astrid found it comically fitting that Hiccup cried out to the god of love, fertility and _sex_, of all things.

"Keep it down or our half the village will know what we're up to," Astrid hissed as she bit his ear. It was a punishment of sorts.

"Ugh…I can't control myself. _Damn_ you're good…" he groaned, and it made her heart soar at his compliment.

Seeing that she was clear to go on ahead, Astrid began grinding again as Hiccup arched forward to nibble on her collarbone again, both his arms wrapped around her back possessively.

He bit down on the flesh ever so slightly, but it was still enough for Astrid to whimper out her worries.

"You _do _realize that every time you do that it takes a week to heal?" she asked, to say nothing of the one she gave him earlier. "And our dads aren't going to take kindly to hickeys all over my neck."

Hiccup grunted his final reply before administrating more moans and whimpers from Astrid for the rest of the evening.

"Then wear a scarf."

**A/N: Phew, what d'you know, it ended up being lemony fluff for you guys. Aren't I just spoiling you guys rotten? ;) **

**So basically yeah, the title spans out what's going on during this one, none-too-mundane day in Berk. I wanted to give you guys a taste of how the Viking-dragon community work together now to get things done faster and more officiently, *and* fleshing out Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff and Fishlegs. **

**On another note, I always did enjoy writing smutty stuff. Eh-heeeeeeee. **

***Please* do give me some feedback as to what you guys think, yeah? **


	3. Chapter 3

**So here I am for yet another chapter, since Chinese New Year is coming up and I finally have some free time on my hands. =)**

**What They Had In Common**

Even if Berk's population wasn't as plentiful like the mainland or even the neighboring islands, the marketplace on Laugardagur -Wash Day- was always bustling with people from first light to final dusk. It was honestly the one day where everyone seemed to be free enough to stock up on household supplies or the occasional spending.

With the winter gone and Ostara, the goddess of Spring ushering in the new season, fresh grains and meat are available from foreign merchants as the frozen waters thawed. It was a welcomed event. The winters of Berk were never gentle. Hiccup knew of this on a personal level. He lost his mother to that hated sickness, and it was only recently that he and his father observed the ninth anniversary of her passing from Midgard.

But as he watched Astrid pull a frown of concentration about which headband she wanted, Hiccup decided that he shouldn't let his Valhallarama's passing pull him down like this. He was living in the present, living for Astrid, and that made all the difference for him.

"I think you should help the girl choose, or we'll be here for the rest of the day," Elder Gothi, the village's oldest and most respected elder half-chuckled, snapping Hiccup back into the present.

Astrid looked back incredulously at the smiling elder. "It's not exactly an easy decision, you know. They both look good on me, right Hiccup?" It wasn't a question where he was forced to agree, but the look in her sky blue eyes was more than enough for Hiccup to dare disagree against. It was an enigma how that same stare could either be so alluringly pleading or impressively intimidating.

"Yeah, they do," he replied a little too quickly, and Elder Gothi couldn't help but curl her lips into a lopsided snicker not unlike Hiccup's.

"It's not exactly fair to use the poor boy as leverage against me, now is it, child?" she asked with that airy tone she always had. Astrid pursed her lips as she shook her head.

"I wasn't, Grandmother," Astrid said with such alarming docility that it took Hiccup rather aback. The Hofferson family had its place amongst the most powerful in Berk for several reasons, among them being that the village's Head Elder was none other than Gothi Hofferson.

"It's not fair, but it _is _effective, isn't it?"

Hiccup expected that to have come from Astrid, but it was Gothi who said that, to both teens' surprise. But Astrid immediately lit up. Gothi snuck a glance at Hiccup's silent, scandalized look as both Hoffersons began to laugh.

"If you like them both so much, dear, you can have them both. My treat," Gothi offered, placing a soft, wrinkled hand on Astrid's. When the elder let go, Astrid's hands were several silver ingots heavier as Gothi nodded her approval.

"Thank you, Grandma," Astrid said as she bent down slightly to give her a warm hug. Hiccup couldn't help but smile as he watched the girl he loved showing such affection for her family. He had seen many sides to the girl, but this one was new.

"You know, there's so much more to the lass than armored skirts and axes," he heard the Elder say matter-of-factly, and Hiccup found himself being brought back to reality yet again –by the same woman, no less. "But I'll bet you've seen at least _some_ of what she has to offer, no?"

It was the way she said that last question that make Hiccup fluster. _Surely_ she didn't mean about what he and Astrid did behind closed doors, now could it? It sure sounded like it… Hiccup's response were several sputters as he looked back and forth between Gothi and the girl in question, who was out of earshot as she made the purchase for the headbands.

"D…Did she tell you-?" Hiccup _had_ to ask, as far-fetched as it sounded.

"Heavens no, child! The poor thing turns redder than a Nightmare's tongue every time I ask how you two have been _coming_ along," she said with a tinkling laugh that reminded him of Astrid's. Still, it unsettled him how the village elder was curious how things between Hiccup and Astrid were _coming_ along….

Gothi could tell how uncomfortable this was making Hiccup feel, so she patted him lightly on his hand that was lying limp on his sides. "No worries, my boy. I'm just an old crone trying to see how my dear granddaughter comes along in this adventure with you." Hiccup frowned.

"You're not a crone, Elder Gothi. I wouldn't think anyone would call you that."

_Bless him, the sweetheart._

"Ohh I'd doubt that. After all, I _am_ the village's greatest elder. The winds carry every hushed mutter and whispered gossip from across the village to me, and not _all_ are pleasant on these old ears of mine," she said with a rueful smile, eyes closed in what Hiccup assumed was reminiscence.

"Well, for what it's worth, you still have my respect, Elder Gothi," Hiccup said solemnly, the old woman nodding with a smile. _Astrid chose well_.

"You're a good lad, Hiccup. Now come, Astrid's done and I think she _might_ find those belt buckles interesting," she said, pointing to Astrid as she immediately strolled over to a foreign merchant's store. True enough, Astrid was looking rather intently at several belt buckles with some odd loops of heavy leather at the left side.

"What are those?" she asked curtly, the dark-skinned merchant beaming at her.

"Those are blade loops, young miss," he said fluently in Berk's native tongue, quite to Astrid's and Hiccup's amusement."They're made so that you can store up to 3 different blades at one go without carrying so many sheathes. Let me demonstrate."

He took down one of the belts and secured it around his waist, the heavy loops hanging neatly by his left thigh. He grabbed 3 different blades, a regular sword, a slightly shorter one and a dagger, and tucked them through the hoops until it hung by the hilts. It seemed to be the only thing keeping the sword from falling through. The swords –without the sheaths- hung precariously from his left thigh, sharp edges just threatening to give someone an unfriendly graze. Hiccup _knew_ Astrid was going to love this.

"I'll take it," she said almost too quickly, and happily paid the merchant his price in ingots as she strapped the belt on. From what Hiccup could tell, it fit her comfortably as she twisted around, bending a little to see if it would have constrained her if she were in a more strenuous position. It didn't.

"You know the other girls would be happily buying a fancy dress that came from the mainland or some bangles from the Far East, but this silly young thing buys _headbands_ and belts to put _swords _and _a_xes in," Gothi said in mock exasperation, mostly just to pull a quick jab at her granddaughter for the fun of it.

Astrid stuck her tongue out rather juvenilely at her grandmother for that and Hiccup couldn't help but laugh. Astrid around her grandmother was awfully cute.

"So Astrid doesn't buy any dresses?" Hiccup internally wondered why he would even bother asking such a question, but ruled it out as him being just plain curious. Gothi, however, just nodded with yet another youthful grin. Hiccup could swear that he felt like he was the oldest among them both.

"But she does have this lovely green one that just looks like the _exact_ same color of your eyes-"

"Grandmotherrrrrr!" Astrid turned around and whined, eliciting yet another cackly laugh from Gothi. Hiccup felt compelled to save his girlfriend from further torment but spoilt, whining Astrid was as frequent as Stoik The Vast in a sundress, so…

"I wouldn't mind seeing you in that little number, Astrid. The prettiest girl in Berk needs to show everyone she has no competition, right?," Hiccup said with one of his lopsided grins, causing both generations of Hoffersons to raise starkly different expressions at him. Astrid was a shade or two pinker around the cheeks, intently avoiding any and all eye contact while Gothi was absolutely amused. Yes, Hiccup was _definitely_ a good choice.

"Come children, I've got some things to stock up from the herbalist and these old, frail bones of mine can't carry as much as they used to," Gothi said, beckoning both teens as they walked behind her.

Astrid didn't even last three seconds before she elbowed Hiccup roughly on his right arm. "That's for embarrassing me in front of Grandma," she mumbled through pursed lips as the blush remained stuck on her face. "You're cute when you're spoilt," Hiccup replied, earning a harder jab. "Am not," she retorted.

"Whatever you say, princess," Hiccup smirked.

Astrid sometimes _hated_ whenever Hiccup felt it was okay to be confident and mouthy. At other times, there was no greater turn-on.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

The herbalist's store was an odd place to like, but Astrid never did mind staying inside for ages. The plethora of different aromas –some alluringly sweet while others remarkably pungent- pleased the girl. It felt…serene, in contrast to the rest of her hectic, battle axe-wielding hours of her life. Grabbing a fresh bouquet of rosemary and thyme, she took a great deep breath into it and sighed, completely content. This must have been what kittygrass does to dragons, then.

"I never knew you liked herbs," Hiccup stated. The girl stole a glance at him before harrumphing away. She wasn't pleased with his smart mouth earlier, and Astrid was sure as Hel not going to let him worm his way to her good graces that soon. "There's a lot to me that you don't know about," she said, not sounding all too bitter, but still too hostile for Hiccup's liking.

"And I look forward to discovering every and all there is to know about you then," he said a little softer, just barely audible amongst the loud banter of Gothi and the local herbalist, Bryhildr. Astrid enjoyed the prospect of Hiccup being curious about all there is to the girl, but a small voice in her head warned her that it could just be Hiccup countering her earlier remark. She liked to think that it was the earlier.

"If that's your way of apologizing for being a smart-ass earlier, apology _not_ accepted," she said cooly, holding the bunch of herbs to her chest. The tranquilizing effect was all that stood in the way of her giving Hiccup yet another fist to somewhere soft.

Hiccup scowled as he turned away from the girl. What was so wrong about a little tease every now and then? She more than had her share of doing it to him, mostly by…_physical_ means. Deciding to let the matter pass, Hiccup didn't bait her any further, instead just sitting obediently on one of the guest chairs while Elder Gothi debated on the virtues of dried marjoram with the herbalist.

Both the elderly women's banter was more than enough to keep the room far from quiet; but as far as Astrid and Hiccup were concerned, the silence between them was too much to ignore. They hardly ever argued, and both teens refused to take up the tried and true principle that 'the more times something was done, the more used to it one becomes'.

Hiccup thought his earlier tease wasn't much of a big deal whilst Astrid found it most unpleasing as it embarrassed her in front of her beloved grandmother. The old crone never hesitated on pulling a fast one on her in the past, but to have Hiccup make her all flustered like that in front of Grandma…just wasn't right. That same small voice in the back of her head now chided her for making a making a mountain out of a molehill. Was that voice always going to contradict what she generally thought?

She took the vacant seat that was thankfully not too close to Hiccup's, still holding onto the dried herbs. She reckoned she'll just pay for these and keep them. They'll still be good for a few more days before being ground-up for basin in her room.

The _I'm-not-talking-to-you_ phase continued on for what seemed like forever. Astrid could tell that Hiccup was beginning to feel impatient with just sitting there as Gothi and Brynhildr chatted without a care in the world. She figured that Ragnarok could have happened and they'd still be too busy to give it a bother.

"She usually takes her time here, so stop fidgeting. You're making me restless too," she said abruptly, Hiccup immediately freezing on the spot. The painfully self-conscious boy didn't really know how to take that phrase in. On one hand she scolded him for being like a fish out of water, on the other, he made her feel something. Restless, was the exact word.

"Sorry," Hiccup mumbled, Astrid inhaling very audibly. If all else failed, Hiccup always resorted to apologizing. If he was apologizing for his wise-mouth act earlier, then all was well. If he was saying sorry for the _fidgeting_…

"I've already told you so many times, Hiccup. Stop apologizing when you don't need to," she said in her reprimanding tone.

"I wasn't apologizing for the fidgeting…" he mumbled. Astrid rolled her eyes and sighed in mock exasperation. Full-on groveling was not beyond Hiccup, but in the present company, he opted against it. Instead, he held out a hand to her. Begrudgingly accepting it, Astrid moved closer to him and clashed her shoulder with his. No way was he off the hook that easily.

"Mind if I took a whiff?" Hiccup asked, regarding the pile of herbs Astrid had. She knew it was his way of defusing the built-up tension, so she let practically buried his face in the bunch of said herbs. She giggled when he came out with bits of it stuck to his nostrils and lips.

"Does this mean we're even?" he asked, cocking his eyebrow. Astrid noted the trademark lopsided grin he gave, and gave her own little smile before resting her head on his shoulders. As much as she tried at times, she just couldn't stay mad –or even displeased- at the lad for too long.

"We're even," she relented, resting her head on his shoulder.

Now spreading his grin from ear to ear, Hiccup brought up the bunch of herbs until they tickled Astrid's nose. Refusing to move from her spot, she sneezed several times before swatting Hiccup's arm. Laughing, the boy then brought the bouquet close enough to cover both their faces as he gave her nose a soft kiss. She mewled in response, relishing in the odd location that Hiccup decided to peck. Securing her fingers at the base of his left jaw, she tugged him closer to give him a chaste kiss on the lips. The herbs were the only thing obscuring the sight of them from both elders, but the girl didn't mind it. The sensation of the rosemary and thyme tickling her skin along with Hiccup's light kisses were too much to bother resisting.

"I wonder if this is what your room smells like," Hiccup wondered in that inquisitive tone of his, Astrid too incoherent to take in the suggestion it implied. "Mmm?" was all she could muster.

"I mean, does it always carry the distinct hint of rosemary and Astrid in it?" his lips now revealing a toothy smirk. She got that part right and well. "Don't get cheeky with me again, Haddock. You've had your day's worth of it already."

He then made a throaty chuckle that Astrid found to be _very_ sexy, and she found herself nuzzling his neck to try and feel the vibrations of those chuckles. It was a rather odd display of public affection, but Astrid couldn't really care less. They weren't lewdly making out or anything of the sort, and really, there wasn't anything taboo about cuddling in public, was there?

Gothi stole yet _another_ hidden pass at her granddaughter and her suitor and curved her lips upwards ever so slightly, nodding her head in agreement to Brynhildr's rant about how the 5 Terrible Terrors she kept at home did not help her at all with the ever-increasing price of Icelandic cod.

Seeing as both of them were _trying_ their level best to keep their hands to themselves, Gothi decided that they had enough torment already at the expense of her amusement. Hey, just because she wasn't exactly in her 40s, it didn't mean she couldn't have some fun, right?

"I'm sorry to interrupt, Bryn, but I think I've kept the little scamps cooped-up in here for too long," Gothi said with a friendly bat of her hand. "Children, why don't you run along?" Both teens immediately sat upright with equally flushed cheeks, trying to pretend that they've been like that all this time. Gothi couldn't help but beam at that sight. "Why don't you go on and get yourselves ready for a bath or something. I'll see you tonight for dinner, Astrid."

"But what about the stuff you wanted to buy?" Astrid asked. Gothi shook her head softly, still retaining that smile.

"I don't think I'll be buying much from dear old Bryn today, dear."

That remark earned her a slight reproachful look from Brynhildr, but Gothi calmly added on "There's just so much for me to chat with her over a cup of her famous Nightblossom tea." That lit the other woman's face up.

"Oh good. I was hoping you'd stay for a pot or two. There's this _lovely_ new trend the matrons are going on about that I wanted to have a talk with you about…" Brynhildr said whilst getting up, rummaging into one of the many unlabelled jars she kept.

"Now go on, shoo, the both of you," Gothi said, both teens needing little time to reach for the exit with hasty goodbyes. It was only after the door creaked shut that Brynhildr turn back with a smirk.

"You did that just to get them out of here and alone to themselves, didn't you?" she asked, Gothi nodding. "They're young. Let those raging hearts be as they are."

"They had quite the cute little fight earlier, didn't they?" Brynhildr asked as she grabbed a pot of boiling water from a nearby stove and placed it on the small wooden table between them both. Gothi dismissed that news with her hand and a resolute "Bahhhhh."

"They're 16, Bryn! Remember the silly little things I used to fight with Egill over?"

Brynhildr grinned as her eyes appeared a little glassy. Reminiscence of the good old days was always welcomed. "Oh I remembered it all so well. Bless him, the man loved you so much, but you two could just start yelling over the simplest of things. I remember the one about how he wasn't getting down on you right-"

"Odin's ghost, Bryn! Couldn't wait till the young ones were gone to bring _that_ kind of things out in the open, now couldn't ya?"

**A/N: Well this one was short…I'm really sorry for not packing it in as much as I'd want to, but this was a small way of my apologizing for not updating as frequently as I'd like to. It's Chinese New Year season here and I just got the time to write this down in between visits to the relatives. XD**

**Anyway, do tell me what you thought about dear old Gothi. It's my first time writing such a matronly character and made her Astrid's grandmother, of all things! **

**Why don't you guys give me some suggestions as to what you'd like to see for Chapter 4? Of course, you will be credited. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Wow, 11 reviews straight-up for chapter 3 alone. Though not as much as other seasoned writers out there per chapter, each and every one of them means a lot to me. Thanks guys. =)**

**P.S: Big shoutout to ****A. Kingsleigh for giving me the theme for Chapter 4 and Lady Bronte for suggesting I warn you guys a little before the naughties come up in the chapters.**

**So here's a fair warning, kiddies. There be nasties in this one. ;)**

**Tradition**

_Sure, it matters a lot how big of a sword one's swinging,_

_But it sure matters a Hel lot more who's the one __**swinging**__ it._

**-Astrid, reprimanding Hiccup on wanting a broadsword wider than his forearm-**

"You're the blacksmith's apprentice. Shouldn't you _know_ what weapon's good for you?"

There was no need for Hiccup to reply that question, even if he could salvage what little reputation he could with that rhetoric. Astrid had a clear and valid point. Hiccup had forged, repaired and made literally hundreds of different weapons throughout his time in the forge. He knew what kind of weapon suited each specific person. Not everyone was suitable to wield a warhammer, or possessed the accuracy needed for archery. Or wield a sword that he couldn't even lift out from the sheath.

Leaning against one of the forge's several tables, Astrid crossed her arms, just daring Hiccup to try and present his rebuttal. The russet-haired boy mirrored her movement, but remained firmly planted on the compressed earthen floor.

"Why are you suddenly so interested in using broadswords, _anyway_?" she asked. It was really beyond her how he could make such a silly choice of weaponry for their hunting trip tomorrow. The bows and arrows were all set and Astrid suggested they bring another weapon –just in case- and Hiccup resolutely stated he wanted to bring along one of the broadswords that hung ownerless-ly from the forge's wall.

Hiccup incoherently mumbled something as his removed eye contact from the Hofferson girl. _Not_ a smart move. She _did_ however catch the name Thuggery in the mumbling.

"What? What does Thuggery have to do with anything?" Astrid asked. Thuggery hailed from the Meathead Clan and was the chief's son. Taller and better-built than Hiccup, Astrid knew the Haddock did not appreciate it whenever Thuggery and his father stepped on Berk's shores once every six months for the annual alliance meeting. The same visit that happened just a week ago.

Then it hit Astrid. Thuggery –who always bore no ill-feelings towards Hiccup- had tried to spend more time with the gang this time around, with his brilliant red Monstrous Nightmare in tow. The dragons seemed to be a common ground between them and Hiccup was cordial enough to chat with the chief-to-be of the Meatheads. And Astrid _distinctly_ remembered Hiccup eyeing Thuggery's rather impressive broadsword one too many times.

_Oh no. __**Oh **__no. In the name of-_

"-Odin's saggy left- Argghhh, Hiccup!"

There was annoyed Astrid, then there was angry Astrid, but annoyed _and_ angry Astrid together were like a Zippleback's fire. Nothing remained after the explosion.

The boy in question's eyebrows shot straight up into his fringe that they threatened never to come back down again after hearing Astrid's _interesting_ choice of swear words. Thor must have been rolling on his back and laughing his hammer off in Asgard.

"Thuggery's sword! All of this because Thuggery can use a broadsword and _you_ can't? What were you _thinking_?" she roared, Hiccup fearing she'd attract half the village to the forge in no time. "Why are you even comparing yourself to him? What, you think there's some _standard_ you have to achieve? I thought you were smarter than that, Hiccup!"

He couldn't retaliate, not now when Astrid practically whacked every excuse and reason out of him. Yes, he was a complete fool for trying to imitate Thuggery. But he _cannot_ _ever_ let Astrid find out that he only wanted to measure up to him because he feared Astrid would eventually compare them both. Thuggery was rather intelligent, and he made up for what Hiccup lacked. Abs and biceps.

"You are going to wise-up and take the sword I recommended to you earlier, and I'll see you tomorrow at my place, at first dawn," Astrid said, taking her things and beginning to leave the forge. Only then did Hiccup begin to move, almost squeaking out "Wait!" to her.

She stopped walking and turned her head slightly to look at him. "What?" she asked, still all ice.

"Don't go."

The hurt in his voice conveyed the apology he didn't have to say, but Astrid was far too furious to feel sorry for Hiccup. Not right now.

"It's late, and we need to get enough sleep for tomorrow. Best you prepare well," she said before effectively disappearing into the night, leaving a lonely and self-hating Hiccup behind.

In the silence, only then did he realize the grim irony that the greatest threat to his relationship with Astrid was no other than his own self.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

The night was not kind to Hiccup. Even with Astrid's advice to sleep in early for the hunting trip, he didn't get much shut-eye done. His tendency to over-think meant that he spent almost the entire night dreading how he would face Astrid in the morning. When the crack of dawn shone through his window, Hiccup grudgingly rose up and got himself ready. Making Astrid wait was not a wise decision. After aking sure he had everything in place, he opened a cupboard and reached out for a light metal contraption.

Just recently he made a new prosthetic that didn't squeak like it normally would and he lined the sole with thick leather so it would not leave much sound when he stepped on the dense forest floor. He ran a hand through the metal, deep in thought. Astrid had helped him make this one, and gave him the advice about using the leather. She helped him make his first hunting leg.

Shaking his head, he walked his way over to the edge of his bed and exchanged prosthetics, tossing the earlier one on his bed covers. Making sure it would hold with the weight of himself plus the hunting gear, he then patted a snoozing Toothless in the head, whispering his apology for leaving the midnight dragon behind. Astrid's sentiment was that having the dragons come along would beat the purpose of a hunting trip.

Certain his father's thunderous snoring would further mask his exit, Hiccup then trudged his way down to the Hofferson house. With his lack of sleep, Hiccup lacked the spirit to speed up himself, but it wasn't like he had a choice when it came to punctuality.

The entirety of Berk was bathed in the cool early purple of sunrise as Hiccup made his way down the village path. It wasn't anywhere near being gloomy, but Hiccup decided that the gods were making the sky this way to mirror his own mood right now.

Right.

Not relenting from his pace, Hiccup ignored the soreness that was beginning to surface from his legs. Prolonged running with a prosthetic wasn't impossible, but it was sure taxing.

His feet were already sore enough when he reached the front door of the Hofferson household. He had to clasp his knees as he bent over for breath. The weight of the bow, quiver of arrows, saber and other hunting apparel did weigh him down somewhat.

_More morning jogs and push-ups, then._

Grimly accepting that thought, he then knocked on the door, hoping for whatever reason that it won't be for the last time.

"I'm over here."

Normally Hiccup would have only flinched a little –in the manliest way possible, of course- but in his state of grogginess, he practically yelped, arms flailing. When enough oxygen began to reach his brain again, Hiccup was utterly bewildered with a laughing Astrid, clad in full hunting gear for spring in Berk.

But wait. In a way, if she was laughing at his expense –no malice detected- doesn't that mean she wasn't angry at him no more? Still, Hiccup couldn't chance it with asking her dead-on.

"Gods, Astrid, you almost gave me a heart attack," he gasped, the girl wiping several beads of tears from her face while the smile lingered on. Good, the signs were still well. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help myself. I saw you coming over from the main walkway and you were so _oblivious_ to your surroundings," she said, still trying to stifle the giggling fit.

Hiccup had to concede. Astrid was stealthy whenever she wanted to be, but he was really like a blindfolded deer in the woods. He could have never noticed her even if she were sauntering her pretty little bum behind him for a good 10 minutes.

"Alright, you got me," Hiccup said, hands raised to his shoulders as he got up, then dusting some of the dirt that got onto his pants. Astrid motioned closer until she was directly in front of him, and then bent down to sweep off a spot Hiccup missed. Of course, the boy's heart went into overdrive with the sudden proximity from her. His response was a very suave "Uhh?" as Astrid positively snorted.

"Couldn't leave any dirt on those, now could we? Now come on, we're already a little late," she said, still sounding okay enough as Hiccup trailed behind her. Seeing that there were no stomps to her step of hands balled into fists, Hiccup assumed all was well, then. Unless she was hiding a very murderous grin that Hiccup knew she was _very_ capable of…

"We'll be taking the grounds near the cove. My dad and I spotted a few herds of deer around there a few days back." Astrid said, still walking on straight. "Mm-hmm," was all Hiccup could reply as without anything malicious to look out for on Astrid's part, all he could be left to focus on were the constant swaying of her hips. It wasn't his first time admiring them, but never before did he have the chance to do so without the risk of her noticing, or anyone else playing witness, since hardly anyone were up and about just yet.

This carried on until Hiccup could recognize the familiar canopy of the trees near the cove –the same cove he first encountered Toothless- and that was when Astrid stopped. Taking just a second to mimic her movement, Hiccup then intently focused on the middle of her braid, not daring to insinuate that he was looking anywhere else –just in case.

Turning back, Astrid noted the Hiccup was resolutely focusing on her face alone for some reason, and she could smell that something was up. For one thing, he was standing too straight to be casual.

"What?" she asked, narrowing her eyes. Never a good sign. Hiccup gulped, but shook his head as he swung his arms lazily by his sides. "Nothin', nothin'. So…ready for some hunting?" he asked, his toothy grin there again. Astrid knew she couldn't get anything out of him now, for whatever reason it was, so she just shook her head too and set her knapsack down.

Hiccup had hunted several times with his father before, so he knew the go-around when it came to it, so he unpacked the essentials –a long coil of rope and several arrows from the quiver as he tested the strength of his bow. "You know how to handle that?" Astrid asked, regarding the bow.

"Honestly?" Hiccup said at first, drawing an arrow onto the bow, taking aim upwards. "It's the one weapon I'm good with." He fired and Astrid saw the arrow disappear into the canopy. They were still a ways off from the hunting grounds, so it was okay to make a certain amount of noise. Still, it was a waste of an arrow.

But a reddish blur zoomed its way downwards and dull _thud_ came from near her. She noticed the apple that wasn't there before and picked it up. The stalk was cleanly cut off by what Astrid assumed was the arrow. She looked at Hiccup, who gave her a confident –yet warm smile. She couldn't help but return the smile. Hiccup had his moments.

"Not bad, but let's see if you could get one of those into a full-grown dear, eh?" she said, biting into the apple. And no, she did not notice how the juice dripping down her full lips gave the russet-haired boy a rather uncomfortable shudder. She gave said lips a quick lick and could hear the poor boy's gulp.

Satisfied with the tease, she silently beckoned him to follow, Hiccup silently cursing how impossibly hot Astrid was.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

Hanging on a tree branch was a fun pastime when they were younger, but Hiccup did not appreciate waiting in the same branch for what seemed like ages for _something_ to rear its head. "I don't usually hunt this way with my dad, you know..." he said to a very focused Astrid. She broke her hunter's glare for a moment to shrug.

"Then I'm teaching you something new. Don't you and your dad usually lose some game?"

"Yeah, but why-?"

"'Cause no matter how silent you guys are, they'll still hear you some way or another. That's where _our_ type of physique comes in handy. There's no way a muscle-hulking Viking can stay up here without the branch breaking, right?"

In a way, Hiccup felt insulted. He _was_ always conscious about his lack of muscles to add to all that...raw Viking-ness.

"And we've got an excellent view up here, with no need to move that much. Understand?"

Hiccup nodded. There was so much he admired about Astrid. Her ingenuity was one of those things.

"Sssshhh," Astrid hushed as she silently set an arrow to her bow. Hiccup slowly scanned for something, _anything_ to show itself. How did Astrid find these things so easily? But soon enough the rough silhouette of a doe made its way carefully through the dense bushes, picking its way forward to the lush green turf ahead of it. It also lead itself straight to the crosshairs of Astrid's aim.

She took aim, breathed several times slowly, focusing her aim on one thing, and one thing only. A clean shot to the deer's torso would at least prevent it from escaping. In her peripheral vision, though, she could see Hiccup was taking aim as well. It unsettled her slightly that he might be trying to steal what might have been her kill, but a part of her figured he was just taking aim in case she missed.

Wait, that wasn't any bit of a consolation.

Seeing what Hiccup would do –and how she would pound him thoroughly for it- she released the arrow, letting it cleanly strike the doe mid-torso. The wailing that ensued only served to confirm she hit her mark. Letting the bow go and dropping straight to the ground, dagger at the ready to give the stricken animal a quick, merciful finish, she noticed something was amiss. The doe wasn't making a sound anymore.

It was strange, since it would be making as much noise as it could until Astrid gave the finishing blow, but it was utterly silent. Only when she approached it did she notice 2 distinct arrows sticking out of the deer. One in the torso –hers- and one right in the head.

_Hiccup_.

She heard the dull _thud_ behind her and turned around to see him with a rather unreadable expression. It looked like…guilt?

"I fired right after your arrow hit it. Even if you were gonna slit its throat, it'd still be suffering for that few seconds," Hiccup said as he stroked the head of the now dead doe before removing the arrows. "Quick and efficient, right?" he asked, all smiles. To be honest, Astrid earlier had her doubts whether Hiccup had what it took to kill something.

Hiccup observed her head slightly tilted in wonder and understood. "You know, even if everyone thinks I'm too squeamish to kill something or whatever, I _have_ hunted a few times before, you know. My dad's a living testimony to that. And now, so are you." Astrid snapped out of it when she noticed Hiccup's bitter tone. That made her frown. Hiccup was better person now, and everyone saw that in him. But he still harbored all those ill feelings of the past. He had to let them go..

And that was when Astrid promised she'd be the one to help him forget it all, and forgive himself.

Walking over, she placed a warm, gentle hand on his cheek as he closed his eyes. He didn't shy away, but remained wooden. He moved his head slightly to meet her grazes, but nothing more.

"I never said you were squeamish. And that was a nice thing to do for the deer, Hiccup," she said soothingly. She placed herself directly in front of him and cupped both his cheeks now, closing the distance between their heads. She rested her forehead on his, their breaths tickling each others' noses. Hiccup did not beckon himself forward to kiss her, but wrapped his arms around her waist. With her being practically the same height, Astrid did not have a problem just remaining still with him like this.

"If anything, you only showed how compassionate you are. A trait well suited for the potential chief of Berk," she said with a grin. He gave her a weak smile before pulling her gently into a warm embrace. Even in the warm summer air, Astrid reveled the warmth that was distinctly Hiccup's and stroked his fine russet hair. It had grown quite a bit since the first time she ran her fingers through it, and she enjoyed the short curtain of hair she could casually rake.

_He's come to accept it. That's good._

Ruffnut liked to observe things. She could sometimes lie back on the small grassy hill near her house and watch the clouds go by, or see her brother make a fool out of himself trying to impress the older girls. Even when Astrid thought she was alone, Ruffnut would watch her discreetly admire her beau working in the forge, _shirtless_, and how she'd sigh to herself in contentment. Hmm.

But right now, watching both Hiccup and Astrid embracing in the middle of the woods in the illusion that they were alone, was rather priceless. Too bad she didn't have a way of taking this moment and snapping it into a frame.

"That's it? We woke up at _dawn_ to watch them do _this?_ Great way to spend the morning, Ruff," Tuffnut grumbled from behind her, arms crossed. Ruffnut looked back from her hiding spot amidst the bushes, not at all amused. Both Snotlout and Fishlegs gave uneasy glances at the female Thornston. If she were to hit him, an all-out brawl between the twins was bound to ensue, and thus blow their cover.

"I came out here to see how things were going to develop since the shouting match they had in the forge last night. _You _decided to come along because you didn't want to feel left out," she hissed, Tuffnut wriggling his nose. "Correction: Astrid did all the shouting while Hiccup stood frozen there like a rabbit caught by a bear. And no, _I _came out here 'cause I thought this would be something new we all could do."

"What, spying on Hiccup and Astrid making out? I thought we were gonna make this a one-time gig when we jump out and catch them off guard while they're dry-humping on the tree over there or something," Snotlout shrugged, Fishlegs cringing. "Are you _sure_ you wanna get Astrid angry while she's having her time with Hiccup?" he asked, because he's just too polite to say _dry-humping_.

"Then we play as _distracters_ or something. We rustle up some bushes and break their concentration," Tuffnut suggested as he bore a small hole through the bushes to get a better view. "Excellent, their kissing now. We can get started."

"They're kissing right next to Astrid's kill? Kinda gross, but oh well, whatever helps them bump the uglies, if you know what I mean," Snotlout suggested with a snicker, Tuffnut and even Fishlegs joining in. Ruffnut rolled her eyes. They were definitely going to get themselves busted for sure.

By herself, Ruffnut had no problem being sneaky. Training and hunting with Astrid since they were kids, Ruffnut shared almost the same amount of stealthy-ness as she did. It was only fair that she could be the only one that could sneak up on the couple like that and watch them _bump the uglies_, as Snotlout coined.

"Ohhh boy, this is kinda getting out of hand," Fishlegs commented, Ruffnut snapping out of her thoughts and delving into the makeshift peephole again. Astrid had pinned Hiccup to a tree, her hands travelling inside his shirt. Ruffnut felt a furious blush rise to her cheeks as she saw how unaffected by this Hiccup was. It was as if it was now second nature to him, how she caressed his flat but toned stomach like that.

"…Wow, leave it to Astrid to be the forward one in the relationship," Tuffnut commented, earning a fist-bump from Snotlout.

_Boys…_Ruffnut grumbled internally.

But when Hiccup dove a daring hand into the hem of Astrid's spiked skirt, grabbing a firm handful of her white, creamy ass, illiciting a throaty moan from the girl, all 3 boys immediately looked away, uttering the same "Ouuuu," and cringing. Ruffnut felt herself growing even redder and she too had to look away.

"What? I thought you boys loved to see this kinda action going on?" she asked to mask that blush before anyone noticed.

"That's all fine and stuff, but Astrid's out of bounds now. She's hot beyond hot, yeah, but she's spoken for, y'know. Peeking on her bum like that is just…_wrong_, now," Snotlout said, Ruffnut's eyebrows rising to levels never before heard of. A quick glance confirmed that she was not the only one rather surprised by the news. Snotlout's constant blatant attempts to flirt with her were not uncommon in the past, but to hear him say this, now, was rather odd. Logical, mature, but odd.

The rest decided not to comment about it, but the boys did not dare look any further. Ruffnut, however, started observing again. It wasn't getting anymore decent between them both.

Hiccup was now gently massaging her ass while Ruffnut was _certain_ Astrid was grabbing Hiccup's chest. Wow, kinky. In the midst of it all, Ruffnut began to ponder if she would ever do that to whoever it was she could be with next time.

She softly bit her lower lip in contemplation. It was beginning to make her feel rather hot and bothered, looking at them doing all sorts of nasty things to each other, but Ruffnut was better than that. The fact that the others were there too meant that she had to keep her composure.

But she remembered what her mother always said about problems. It was either you dealt with it, or you walked away. Well, Ruffnut knew going right up and confronting Hiccup and Astrid for making her all hot and bothered would be rather stupid. Amusing, but stupid. So…

"That's it, we're leaving," she said with a slight tone of exasperation that only Fishlegs could make note of. "What, so soon?" Tuff asked, scratching his hair.

"If you want to stay behind for more and see Hiccup's _fingering_ technique, be my guest. I'm out of here," Ruffnut said in resolution, all three boys cringing again. Ruffnut never held back any punches, or words, for that matter. They didn't need to be told twice. They'd leave.

"Take your time, guys. Not as if you've got anything important to do as experts of all things dragon or whatever," Tuffnut lazily said to the wind as he walked off. Fishlegs took some time to quietly get up, but cursed silently to himself as his boot snagged on a bush and it shook slightly.

"Go go go!" Snotlout hissed as the rustling only grew louder, all four of them high-tailing it out of there, fearing the axed wrath of Astrid Hofferson.

Hiccup knew what corked bottles sounded like when they were popped open. Nothing could quite compare to the comically distinct, wet _pop_ of it. But after Astrid released herself from the very ambitious kiss they were sharing, Hiccup knew the only other source of the _pop_.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, suddenly all business. She did however still have that glassy look in her eyes and she was panting for breath. Figures she'd be the only person to still be so alert even in the midst of making out.

"What is it?" he asked in the husky voice Astrid loved so much. _Mmm…now to try and get him to sound like that __**everyday**__.._

After a second look at the bush in question, Astrid shook her head. "Nothing. Thought something moved from that shrub over there," she said, beckoning to it. Hiccup gave a quick glance at his surroundings –just to be sure- but Astrid pinning him to a tree and licking his jaw line was too much for him to concentrate.

"I'm sure…mmm…it was…nothing," Hiccup groaned, slowly taking in Astrid's ministrations. She, however, stopped and looked at him intently. Hiccup honestly couldn't complain as Astrid with her lidded, smoky eyes and moist, pink lips were a good consolation.

"It'd better be nothing, or else Odin help the poor souls who dare interrupt me whilst I am…taking _care_ of you."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**Well, that was fun to write. The others involved in mild voyeurism, and was that a slightly turned-on Ruff I see? 8D**

**Do tell me what you guys think, okay? I thrive on reviews and constructive feedback. =)**


	5. Chapter 5

**Gosh, it's been months, innit? Well my sem break has just begun, so here I am!**

**My replies for the previous chapter's reviews will be at the bottom from now on. =)**

**Beating Around The Bush**

"_Regardless of what you may think, Breaker, we _cannot_ let him read this.  
Oh don't give me that look." _

**-Astrid, challenging her Nadder Cloudbreaker  
on the merits of keeping a secret diary, secret.-**

_**The personal diary of Astrid Hofferson**_

_Frigg's Day_

So guess what? Breaker decided it was a good idea to trot around the house with this book between her beaks for all to see. I cannot imagine what would've happened if Dad, or Mum, -Hel, even Eirik or Rolf- found them. I'd never hear the end of it.

But then again….would they think I'm mad for writing to myself of all the people here? Yeah, I know I keep this book as a self-saga to read to myself sometimes at night, at times recollecting long-forgotten events of the past…but hey, my whole family has weird habits.

I mean, Dad just likes to pick his teeth right after dinner (eww), Mum just loves pickled herring for snacks (ugh), Eirik always has that cup of lamb's milk when the sun goes down (freshly squeezed!) and Rolf fiddles around making wooden figurines with a broadsword. And the damned things are pretty decent too.

So yeah, me writing to myself isn't all that odd, right?

Wrong. And that is why Hiccup will never, ever get to read this embarrassing book. Ever.

Oh, and I just exposed my family's weird antics. Written in charcoal. Great. Another reason to not let anyone else read this.

Maybe hiding it under my bed? No, that's Eirik's favorite hiding spot many years ago. Doesn't mean he absolutely completely grew out of the habit, then, right?

Ugh, Breaker's tail just scraped my desk. See those scratch marks near the edge? You'll remember that it's *her* handiwork, then.

So, anyway, I got to ride Toothless for the first time today! Well, not riding behind Hiccup as per the norm but actually getting to fly with Toothless. Alone. Just the two of us.

Hiccup had modified the pedal so a regular foot could work it as well as his prosthetic. He'd been trying to convince me for a few days now (the persistent fish bone...) to give it a go. Of course, I gave him the standard 'no' the first 5 times and a nice bruise on the arm for the 6th.

But I had to be the charitable one to give him a kiss straight after that 'cause he kept giving me those stupidly irresistible doe eyes and that pout. Ugh, that pout!

*Anyway*, it didn't take two shakes of Phil's tail for the kiss to turn into a full-on make-out session, right in his living room. Odin, I didn't even care back then if his dad caught us practically splayed on the fur rug...which wasn't exactly a bad place to get touchy-feely, mind.

...Okay, I'm *definitely* not letting Hiccup read this book.

So back to the point, I wasn't really looking forward to riding Toothless -don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against him- but because of two things:  
1. Last time I so much as gave Toothless a pat on the snout with Breaker around, she wouldn't even let me feed her for a whole day.  
2. Flying with Toothless is the only solitary thing that they could do alone without someone else bugging him. Even me. No one doubted that Toothless was his first -and best- friend. If I rode on Toothless it would take away that sole thing they share among themselves. I mean, I think I feel the same bond between me and Breaker.

But Hiccup' sentiment was that the ride would be some good way for me and Toothless to bond. He was nothing, if not honest with his intentions.

Needless to say, I relented in the end, but not without my doubts. It definitely didn't comfort me when Hiccup still had to coo stuff like 'It's okay, bud,' to Toothless *while* I'm getting ready to launch.

But if there's one thing I felt comfortable with, it was the trust between me and Toothless. We both loved the same skinny little boy. And we would go to the ends of Midgard for him, if need be.

So with a quick nod from the ebony dragon, we were off.

And only then did I understand the need for that harness for Hiccup's vest.

I was already beginning to be familiar with the sudden wall of wind that hits back at me whenever Toothless takes off, but it was a totally different story when Hiccup wasn't there to take most of the force.

I was nearly blow clean off!

I'm sure Toothless did not appreciate the scream I gave, as high-pitched as it was.

It wasn't any easier after that. It took a little getting used to the gear changes and a few close calls around the roofs of Berk. I think I owe Mr. Thornston a new roof ornament.

...On that note, I've got to give Hiccup some credit. The changes in the gears are so subtle that I accidentally skipped from the 3rd to the 5th. That resulted in Toothless barrel-rolling for awhile. I hope *you* won't make that same mistake twice, right?

Needless to say, Toothless wasn't all too pleased at my mess-ups, and I found myself using Gobber's more colorful choice of words.

But I'll be honest here. For that short while, with all the struggling, I understood what Hiccup wanted. It was *this*, the twitches and the tolerating as we both tried  
to keep airborne and stable. The mutual co-operation and give-and-take that took far more effort than just riding a Nadder with both tailfins intact. (sorry Breaker!).

Toothless *did* put up with me until I got the hang of it, but he didn't bother to mask his impatience. I mean, he had the nerve to backslap me with his ear! I don't even know if Hiccup had to put up with stuff like that...

Anyway, we were nearly over Troll Valley (1) when I finally managed to get things stable. The winds were rather merciful there, so Toothless opted to glide instead. It was a change of pace I welcomed, honestly.

We stayed like that for a few minutes until we were directly above the freshwater springs. Toothless gave me a look that said he *wanted* to land, so I complied. The landing itself was almost as iffy as my overall attempt to keep us both airborne, but we managed not too badly.

Although it was a few days short of Laugardagur, I couldn't resist having a dip, so I took off my boots and leggings and walked into the shallower parts of the streams, soaking myself up to my things.

It was an odd feeling to have this much of myself immersed in water and yet not go all the way and take a bath, but the fact that I was short of some furs to dry myself off made me think otherwise.

Toothless, however, couldn't have been less concerned about me as he was practically stalking the stream's edge for freshwater trout. It was only after his fifth that he trotted back to me with a pleased look on his face.

Glutton.

I had the sarcasm in me to ask if he had enough, and he shrugged as far as his forepaws would allow, giving a face that clearly said 'Could've been more.'

The Night Fury then had the cheek to jump into the water and get me wet (stupid, useless reptile) and the gummy smirk he gave me didn't help one bit. In retaliation I splashed him with some water as well, but it was all for naught as he brought down his forepaw into the water and practically soaked me with the counter-splash.

The scowl I gave him didn't even last a full 3 seconds against that stupid crooked grin that was nothing unlike a certain Haddock's. I ended up spending a few minutes playing in the water with him, getting both myself and the dragon even more drenched (if that was possible…)

I never remembered having this much simple fun -or giggling so shrilly- in years. Not since me I picked up my axe for the first time. And that was when I was glad that it's Toothless here instead of anyone else. They'd think I grew a second head or something, laughing so goofily. As far as the entire of Berk was concerned, Astrid Hofferson _does not_ laugh like a loon.

In hindsight, I was thankful that I wore my armored skirt today, so it was easier to dry off. Toothless was nice enough to help fan my tunic and bindings to dry. Now if you were wondering how absurd I could have been to be half-naked like that in the forest, this was one of the hardest streams to reach on foot, and I had a big, black mass that shoots fireballs for a bodyguard. Not that I couldn't fend for myself, mind, but having Toothless there as a sense of security was, well, satisfying.

When were both dry and fit to fly again, I suggested we fly around the clouds, a feat that I could not really achieve with Breaker. One thing I noted about Toothless was that he was built more …what was the word that Fishlegs used the other day?

Ah yes, _aerodynamic_.

Said it had something to do with Toothless's extra pair of small wings behind the main ones and his overall body's construction. See? I'm a good linstener.

Breaker would tire easily if I asked her to fly above a certain height but with Toothless, both Hiccup and I have easily soared above the clouds several times. There was something about touching the white floating fluffballs that actually felt wet and cold, doing what was once seemingly impossible now just merely on a whim and fancy, that made me suddenly appreciate the black dragon so much more, and even _more_ so for his rider.

Banking down to the right, we made our way back to the village but Toothless redirected us slightly upwards to Raven's point, for some reason. Before we could even reach there I could hear the faint but high-pitched squeals of _some_ dragon, but couldn't really tell what it was until we got a closer look. There were a couple of Boneknappers that were tousling over Odin knows what reason, and I didn't find it amusing how Toothless thought a dragon-fight was worth the detour for. I saw some dragons practically play-fight every day.

It was only after a bemused nudge in their direction after the look I gave him did I realize what they were fighting after. Amidst all that dirty ivory armor clicking and clanking against each other I noticed that one Knapper was in fact trying to pry something off the other. The second one didn't really look like it minded being tugged at, more like trying to _help_ the first one in its task.

I took a closer look, raising both my arms and laid the palms open. Hiccup always taught us from day-one that doing that and walking slowly towards a dragon was a sign of no-hostility. I made sure to leave my dirk behind on the dirt floor (stupid dragons can practically _smell_ any weapon on someone!) and whistle to them.

It caught both their attentions and they just froze there for a second. It was actually kinda funny, really! Knapper 1 had his beak just hanging there trying to tug that thing out of Knapper 2, who was standing upright and awkwardly like a big chicken.

The more I approached them, the more I realized that Number 1 was Gobber's own Boneknapper –Svalinn(2)-, the first one we ever encountered. She was very distinct from the rest because of the smithy signature that Gobber engraved onto the small piece that used to be his belt buckle. She didn't mind the insignia that otherwise hindered the total smoothness of the bone armor. Instead, she took as much pride in it as Gobber did. Something about blacksmiths, Boneknappers and armors, then.

Anyway, the closer I got to Number 2, I saw that there was this hooked fang that somehow managed to get stuck along the gaps of her bone armor. Because it was completely different from Svalinn's even, flat chestplate, Number 2 has some ribcage bones for armor pieces and the strange, hooked fang somehow curved it's way inward and got lodged in. I can understand where brute force doesn't apply because the wrong amount of pressure might snap the armor piece along with the fang, and I knew that Number 2 wouldn't be happy with a broken piece of her complete armor. Heck, even I got miffed for a few hours when one of the spikes on my skirt fell off…

I patted both Svalinn and Number 2 and let them know I was offering to help. Svalinn nodded and gave me room, whereas Number 2 was beginning to get a little jumpy and impatient. He was fidgeting and crooning every few seconds, and it really didn't help any.

I told him sternly to hold still, and he actually _listened_. Funny thing was that I was strangely reminded of Hiccup and the several times I had to raise my voice at him to stop fidgeting or something whenever he got too nervous for my administrations(3).

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that the fang was rather flat and sharp around the sides and would wound me if I tried to pry it with my bare hands. The only place I could tug it from was the root that was…still attached to the tooth itself. Ewww.

So taking one of the small rags I carry around with me, I held the fang from the root and began to shift it from several directions. If I can shake it loose instead of tugging with brute force, it'll just come right off. No damage whatsoever to the Knapper.

Unfortunately, Number 2 couldn't really hold all that still as the sharp edges I were talking about earlier were digging into the Knapper's soft, exposed skin. To the touch, a Knapper's skin, it's _real_ skin beneath the armor was softer and warmer than a regular dragon's. It felt…more vulnerable to damage, and I could already see the trickles of blood at the fang's edge.

My shaking of the fang was making it come loose bit by bit, but I had to try and ignore the whimpers of Number 2, as the shaking meant that the fang _had_ to dig in a little more and aggravate the wound.

I crooned him to stay strong, to be my little warrior as I tried to pull it off. Now that I think about it, it felt weird to be so soft and comforting and…loving as I tried to heal a flesh wound. We Vikings always believed in being too stubborn to feel the pain, so even when we healed others, we made sure they kept the mindset of blocking out the pain, sometimes yelling the encouragement at the injured to psyche them up.

But no, I soothsaid and crooned and spoke softly and so full of care and…spoke like how Hiccup would if he were in my place. I fell in love with the boy a little more (if that were possible) as I understood how much love and dedication he gave to every dragon out there, to make them gain confidence in us and trust that we can help them as well. He wanted to let us to know that Vikings and dragons can depend on each other.

When I finally got the fang out, Number 2 fell back on her hind quarters and I felt the earth move just a little, her snout breathing out a sigh of relief. I wanted to pat her head for awhile when she nudged herself against my side, her purrs affectionately vibrating me to the bones. The wound was rather superficial, so it would heal in no time. Even Svalinn decided to give that section a good lick for measure. Dragon saliva always did heal battle wounds.

So by the time we _finally_ reached the village, both me and Toothless found Hiccup practically lying on the couch of his house, napping. He was strangely spread-eagled and sporting several etches of charcoal on his face, one I knew was definitely Stoick's own handiwork.

"Astrid, wake him up for dinner in the Mead Hall later. Thanks."

I of course, complied, but not without straddling the poor lad, of course. The few hours' worth of flying really got my blood pumping, and I intended to use my one and only…_outlet_.

I'll spare the details as I really don't want any more embarrassing details to leak out _should_ this book ever get into the hands of someone else. But one's thing's for sure. I _really_ did _wake him up_.

So it's really getting late and my handwriting's beginning to get just a little off, so I think I'm gonna finish off here. If you/I am reading this now, I hope you'll remember to never stop writing, because I sure as Hel wanna look back and remember something as amusing as today.

Oh, and that reminds me, I'll write tomorrow about how I'm gonna turn that fang from earlier into a nice dagger for my collection. It's about time I had some dragon-related weaponry.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**1. A lil' reference from Determamfidd's When In Rome fic. ;)**

**2. Svalinn was a shield that was supposed to stand before the sun.**

**3. Heee-hehehe. *cheeky grin***

**A. Kingsleigh:** I'm glad you thought the fight was believable. I wasn't sure if it came across as being natural for both of them, but I'm glad you thought it was. =) Well I'm not sure how the boys were supposed to take to actually watching Hiccup and Astrid doing the nasties. I mean it's not all the same as watching porn these days, eh? XD

**Foxy's Girl: **Well I keep thinking that he *did* suggest the internal-combusting of the Green Death and thus killing it, so he's squeamish to kill something like Toothless, but a deer or something else that Vikings usually need to kill to eat/survive would be okay, no? =) As for Snot, he's not a total jerk as some people portray him (at least…I hope he's not) so he'd be halfway decent enough in my books to know what's not up for grabs and what's not decent to look at. ;)

**4ever2010:** Thanks! But the reviews are quite in the drought-season, eh? =/

**Voldyne:** Indeed, I think that something that requires accuracy would be better suited for someone like Hiccup, right? Makes up for the lack of the mountains of muscles the others have. XD

**Opaul: **Haha, thanks, I try to end all my chapters with this funny one-liner or so, but I gotta change the pace every now and then. =)

**Romance and Musicals: **Hehe, I think a T-rated fic needs a little somethin'-somethin' that we're old enough to see, right? ;) And they actually stumbled upon them by accident, so..not so much on the pervy, but the awkwardness is there. And the avatar's from selene231 of Deviantart. Check out her HTTYD fanart and her other works. Very cute. =)

**Soooooooo, hope for more reviews? And sorry I really took so long. T^T**


	6. Chapter 6

**And to serve as a combo-breaker, here's a chapter that's several months earlier than you might've expected. XD**

**Measures Taken**

"_Meh, takes the sport out'a the whole thing,"_

**-Gobber, giving his opinion to Hiccup's suggestion on crossbows.-**

It's nothing new to hear at least some form of arguing to come from the forge. Astrid knew that if you put two people, who have their own share of different opinions to things in an overbearingly hot and stuffy place, things will start flying.

She reckoned it's the third argument alone this week.

"I'm telling you, we _need_ something like this. You had more confidence in my bola cannons!"

"Because you caught a _Night Fury_ wi' tha' bola thingy. But _this_? It takes too long to load, the body alone will take _days_ te' craft and we're gonna need te' _calibrate_ every one of 'em?"

"But it pierces body armor, Gobber! And we don't need to train someone so much to operate one."

"Yea, but you and I both know the distance this thing can go is lesser compared to your average- oh hi there Astrid!"

"Gobber, you're not gonna fool me with the old 'Oh look Hiccup, Astrid's-gahhhhh, she's really here."

The blonde in question was leaning casually on the doorway with her arms crossed and one eyebrow arched in question. Gobber was sitting down with his good arm supporting his chin while Hiccup was in mid-flinch, arms flailing like a wild duck. A cute duck, though.

"So? What's it all about _this_ time?" she asked.

Gobber stiffened up from his seating place on one of the forge's benches. "Well, _Hiccup _here-"

"_-I_-" Hiccup interjected, both to Astrid and Gobber's surprise. "-Was telling Gobber about the merits of the crossbow, which he fails to accept," he said with what was a tactfully seasoned scowl towards the man.

Gobber lowered one brow and compressed his lips.

"I din' say it's useless, boy, but the drawbacks just overweighs your whole defence!" Now _his_ arms were flailing like a duck. Astrid figured Hiccup must to have learned it from _someone_, at least.

"But if you'll just let me-"

"_Enough_."

Both smiths turned their heads to witness a cross-armed Astrid with a scowl dreadful enough to rival that of Stoick, her wild blue eyes almost glowering a tempest on their own. It was enough for both of them to know when to stop talking.

"Let me see this…_crossbow_," she said, holding out a hand that was not all too welcoming, but Hiccup dared not to try her patience. He reached for one of the many whimsical gadgets that Astrid had yet to be familiar with (there were _so_ many at any given time…) and passed her what was a long and sturdy wooden device that had a strange, miniature bow on it.

It was rather hefty to hold, but Hiccup taught her how to wield the strange new thing properly, her right hand resting on what Hiccup called the 'trigger' (whatever _that_ meant…) and the other on the lower body. It felt more balanced now, but Astrid did not understand why they were arguing over something like this?

"So? How does it work?" she asked, expecting something to just…_happen_.

"Oh, right, you forgot the bolt," Hiccup said, scurrying to find whatever it was he was talking about whilst Gobber sat back at his seat, hand on chin again, his face clearly reading 'Can't wait to see how _this_ turns out.'

Hiccup came back with a strange wooden arrow that was too short and too fat to be of any use.

"What in the-?" she began, but Hiccup silenced her with a finger to her lips.

"Sssh. Let me," he said in a softer tone that Astrid didn't at all mind, before he pulled the string of the miniature bow until it clicked into place somewhere behind before placing the short arrow into the metal sections at the middle, which had a groove tailored to the arrow to fit in snugly. The arrow itself was just long enough to span the entire length of the device with the arrowhead sticking out, but Astrid reckoned it was still only half the length of a regular arrow.

"You see the slit here? You aim through that, and you squeeze that trigger. Be careful of the kick-back. It's a doozy," Hiccup said, guiding as Astrid aimed at one of the used targets that the archers normally practiced on.

Just when Astrid immediately squeezed the trigger, the _snap_ and the following recoil took her back by surprise as the string slapped its way back to the original point. For a second Astrid thought the device came to life with a pull of that trigger.

"Great Odin's beard!" she gasped, Gobber chuckling a little. "See? Ye tell me how the rest are gonna get used te' tha' _snap_ thing it always does?"

"When they see how far it'll pierce through the targets, they'll get used to it," Hiccup retorted, demonstrating the Astrid. Taking a closer look, she saw that the little arrow was halfway through the board-made out of the same wood they used to make the drakkars- and the cloth-wrapped hay padding the front.

All-in-all, it went further in than any other arrow ever had, and the bulls-eye was sunk-in smack dab in the middle where the arrow hit. Astrid was taken aback. Her aim was always precise, but she never could get that accurate even on a normal longbow.

"Powerful, right? But they can't reach as far as normal arrows can. Something to do with the length of the bows and arrows themselves, but I think this does a good job from close to mid-range, right?" Hiccup asked, _clearly_ asking Astrid for her support in the undertones.

Giving him an exasperated look, she looked over to Gobber to see what he has to say. The smith wasn't all too amused either, shaking his head and shrugging.

"For every reason I give him why this weapon won't be all tha' practical he'll gimme 5 reasons against me. I was never wrong when I said he's every bit the boar-headed stubborn Viking his old man ever was."

"Thank you for summing that up," Hiccup said in all his usual dry humor.

"That all aside, Gobber," Astrid interjected before Gobber could have his say. "The Chief says you guys gotta wrap it all up and prepare for the Gathering of The Clans. The ships from Hopeless just made port and we can see the Brass Monkey sails coming up on the horizon."

"Right. We'll settle this later, then. Ye' go on ahead, Hiccup. I'll wrap things up here," Gobber said, arranging some things into an order that Astrid swore was messier than it was earlier.

Hiccup however refused to leave without at least shutting the fires of the forge off and arranging the already mended weapons for the day. Astrid, not wanting to just stand there and do nothing for 5 whole seconds, offered to shut all the wooden doors that provided the forge with much-needed ventilation.

"Aye, you're both good kids and all, now git goin' before Stoick has ye' heads for makin' 'im wait. He always knows I'm gonna take awhile," Gobber said, practically shooing them off the forge. With an uncertain shrug to Astrid's questioning look, Hiccup lead her up the hill back to his home. He desperately needed a change of clothes after spending the better quarter of the day in the hottest, most sweltering place in Berk.

"So my dad's on the docks already?" Hiccup asked as they made the final few steps up the stairs, fanning the collar of his loose tunic in an effort to dry some of the sweat that still remained on his torso. "Yep," Astrid replied, opening the door and in the next second, almost pummeled to the ground by a mass of black scales and a _very_ wet tongue. 

"Bad, _bad_ Toothless! That's Astrid, bud! She doesn't _like_ the licking!" Astrid heard the muffled yelling of Hiccup through the insulation of the Night Fury's bone-breaking embrace. She could feel the tongue freeze mid-lick and his nostrils flaring several times before he let out a questioning purr.

"Rrrr?"

"Yes Toothless, you've got the wrong Viking," Astrid drawled as best as she could, it being no mean feat on its own as the death-grip was extremely uncomfortable, to say the least. She did not envy the possibly daily routine that Hiccup had to go through.

Immediately releasing her, the first thing Astrid could see were the wide-as-battle-shield eyes of an apologetic Toothless, his head hung low as he rumbled nervously. Hiccup didn't dare intervene as a silent Astrid was as dangerous as still waters, regardless if it was his best friend in the crossfire. The dragon drool on the left side of her face that shone with disturbing viscosity didn't really help any.

Her neutral expression maintained for the better of several seconds before the first signs of a grin cracked its way through. "How could I not forgive that stupidly adorable face?" she said before scratching him affectionately behind the ears, eliciting several purrs.

""Kiss-up," Hiccup grumbled with his arms crossed at his best friend who was currently a pool of black mush against Astrid. The dragon surprisingly then turned to snort at the boy before trotting back into the house.

Following the Night Fury in, Hiccup motioned to quickly run up the stairs and get that new change of clothes, but found an obstacle in the form of two arms wrapping around his torso.

"So…asides from Toothless _napping_ on the rafters, we're alone here, aren't we?"

The smoky, husky tone of her voice made Hiccup gulp none too silently and he stood ramrod straight (in more ways than one,,,)

"Uhhhh, we are, but..." he managed as a hand began to travel inside his tunic, soft, quick touches of lightning making their way up to his chest. "Oh gods!" One of her hands proceeded to travel towards the dangerous and unexplored terrain of Hiccup's beltline, Hiccup squirming as her entire front was pressed onto his back. The feeling of two _very soft _objects around his spine didn't really proceed to help the situation.

"As…Astrid?"

"Hmm?"

_Oh dear Freyja, that tone of hers…_

"Ahhh-mmm…aren't we…gonna be…y'know, late?"

"Mmm…just a few more seconds," she said as she rested her head on the crook oh his shoulders. Being slightly taller than Hiccup meant that nothing of the boy was out of her reach, and she could practically wrap herself around him, the same way _he_ could return the gesture.

She could feel the thump of his heart growing faster and harder by the second, and proceeded to cup a hand against that entire left pectoral, squeezing ever so slightly. Boy, could he squeal

"Heart working on overtime?" she had the cheek to ask.

"It's beating a lot faster than normal. I mean, even faster than it usually goes when I'm with you," he muttered, and she had to smile. It was flattering for him to think that way. Closing her eyes, she gave light pecks on the back of Hiccup's neck, her soft, tender lips leaving feathery tingles on his skin. "Mmm, you're sweet, Hiccup…"

He _did not_ know whether she meant the gesture about his over-beating heart or the taste of his neck. He really hoped it was the latter…

"But you're right, we're gonna be late," she said, suddenly back to being serious. And in one fell swoop, she reached for the edges on his tunic and cleanly lifted the whole thing over his arms and above his head.

"What in the-?" he incredulously gasped as Astrid proceeded to wipe her face with said tunic before chucking it over to the laundry basket.

"I still haven't got rid of the present Toothless left me earlier," she regarded the dragon drool from earlier. "I'm not gonna go for the Gathering smelling like wet dragon."

Hiccup pursed his lips as he made his way upstairs. _Oh, great, so the cuddling session had a motive behind it. Should've seen __**that**__ coming…_

"But if it's any consolation," Astrid started out, clearly understanding that look on his face. "I kinda _like_ touching you from behind."

She'd never forget the sputters he choked out on his walk up to the stairs.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

The second Hiccup came downstairs in a thin cotton tunic and put on the usual fur vest, he noticed the lack of a certain blonde girl in his house. Toothless was still napping on the rafters as if nothing went wrong, and it took the boy to wonder for a few seconds if she was playing an impromptu game of hide-and-seek, for Odin knows what reason.

He then noticed the piece of parchment that was left on the kitchen table.\

_I just remembered that I need to get Breaker up and change into something more suitable for the meeting later. We'll meet at the Mead Hall entrance._

_-Astrid._

Hiccup scoffed as he noted the lack of a 'Love, Astrid' or something of the sort, instead receiving the usual, curt initials. Is it that hard to add that one single word that Hiccup has no hesitation of adding to _his_ letters to _her_?

"Toothless? Get up, buddy, we need to go to the Gathering of the Clans," he hollered behind his general direction to the now-grumbling dragon. "S'not my fault, bud. You're like, the symbol of Berk or something to the other clans, and Dad and the rest think it's a good idea, so…" he only finished with a shrug.

Toothless opened a half-lidded eye, not at all intending to actually get up.

Sighing, Hiccup walked over to the pantry where all the preserved food was kept.

Stupid, useless, _lazy_ dragon. Surely he doesn't need a bribe for every little action that he doesn't see fit of doing, right?

Fetching a dried herring, he held it up as high and tempting as he could to the dragon. Dried fish was the only thing other than the fresh variant that dragons preferred, in general. The sun-dried aroma must have some different form of allure in its own, then.

"C'mon, bud, c'mon. We're gonna be late, you lazy useless bum."

Toothless snorted. He just managed to close his eyelids for what seemed like merely a second or so before his hatchling had to come and bother him over some trivial human gathering of sorts. Don't these people ever appreciate the wonders of a good nap?

The dried herring, however, was proving to be worth a pass this time around. He was getting a mid-dinner snack just to show up to that event. And no precautions, to boot. Definitely worth a shot.

Nimbly leaping off the rafters, the dragon then kindly accepted the fish from Hiccup's hand and took a few seconds to relish in the tough, salty texture of the dried fish. He never cared much for the ways Vikings seem to _cook_ everything they need to eat (takes the fun out of the entire meal) but this, sun-drying the fish off its moisture, is a stroke of genius.

"_Now _can we go?"

Ugh, more of that impatient drabble.

Ignoring the urge to give his hatchling a not-too-gentle shove, Toothless lifted a lazy paw to open the door and lead the way out.

Hiccup, scratching the back of his neck, grabbed his sketchbook (who knows how long the meeting was going to take) and tailed Toothless, shutting the door on his way out. He swore that the Night Fury had _too_ much of an attitude sometimes.

The weather, however, improved both their moods as soon as they stepped outside. The sun was up and bright but the mellow gusts of wind were a welcome condition to both dragon and rider. "Weather's nice, eh bud?" Hiccup asked as he scratched behind Toothless' ear plates. "Winds are good enough for the ships from the other clans to make it here on time. Thank the gods."

Toothless whined a little as he looked back and forth longingly between the skies and Hiccup. "Not today, bud. We've got to attend the meeting, remember? It's our responsibility to play the good hosts."

Toothless then gestured at the Haddock household, followed by the skies around Berk, then to the Mead Hall. The russet-haired boy understood what he meant. '_We do a fly-by around Berk for awhile before landing at the Mead Hall.'_

Hmm.

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

If the visitors from the neighboring clans and tribes didn't notice the extremely conspicuous black silhouette in the sky suddenly take off from the ground, they would notice the none-too-concealed whoops that its rider yelled out from takeoff.

Since both Toothless and himself were the new prides of Berk, Hiccup could give an excuse that the flying-around was some way to indirectly show-off to the other clans. He knew the others never minded a harmless show of strength.

"Once around the village, then we head for the Hall, 'kay?" he asked Toothless through the wall of air, the dragon warbling his reply with an added nod. Hiccup banked them slowly to the docks to get a closer view of the visiting ships.

He noticed that several of them were now larger than normal and for a good reason too: there were spaces on the decks for dragons. Though the fly-by was quick, he could see several breeds that he's never seen-or read of- before.

"We'll get to know 'em later, bud. I think it's 'bout time we headed to the hall. Astrid's waiting for us," he said, the dragon positively snickering. Toothless knew that the girl would not take kindly to unnecessarily waiting for him.

When they flew over the village square, Hiccup could see that there was a more colorful sea of people and dragons than usual, the stream leading upwards to the Mead Hall. Several heads looked up to see the Night Fury stretch his vast wings to glide its way magnificently to the Hall.

They landed at the foot of stairway to the Mead Hall as there was virtually no room whatsoever to land at the doorway itself, not with that many people going in and out of it.

"Well, I guess there's no hiding the gear, so let's just bring the whole thing in, eh?" Hiccup asked, Toothless just shrugging as the boy unlatched himself from the ebony reptile. "Well, we could tell them that I wanted to see how the other tribes were do-"

He stopped almost immediately as Toothless's ears shot up to a certain direction and snapped his head to somewhere behind Hiccup. The boy himself barely had a second before he was nearly pushed to the ground by a mass of blonde hair.

In the initial split-second, Hiccup thought that it was Astrid, but several things weren't right. The hug was all wrong, the smell of her hair was very different, and Astrid was never anywhere near shorter than Hiccup.

His first instinct was to push her away-which he did- but what surprised him was that she didn't resist at all. Moreover, she was still grinning from ear to ear and it would've freaked him out if she wasn't so…beautiful.

"Still as shy as ever, I see," she said, her bright blue eyes unlike Astrid's, but still sparkled alluringly. He had to gulp. Wait, she _knew _him?

Berk was by no means a small village, but Hiccup more or less knew who was or who wasn't part of the clan. And he's certain he's never saw _her_ around before. Plus it's the Gathering of the Clans. Best bet was that she was from one of the others.

"Have we…met?" he blurted out, not able to really put a finger on who _exactly_ she is. _No one_ in the past, even from the other tribes and clans would talk to him after they heard of his notoriety as Hiccup the Useless. Well, everyone except Thuggery.

And then it hit him. He used to play around with Thuggery when they were younger, and they got into some adventures of their own, but they were always, _always_ accompanied by this one girl…it was just the three of them. The heir of Berk, the heir of the Meathead Clan and the heiress of the Bog-Buglars.

"Go one, keep going…" she said encouragingly after seeing the calculative look on his face.

It was just the three of them, until that girl decided that just for the laughs, she would steal a pair of underpants from Soick the Vast. While he was still wearing them.

"You were banished," he let out in a gasp. "M-my Dad banished you after that underwear thing. You shouldn't _be_ here!"

"Oh and it's nice to see you too, Hiccup. How have the last eight years been?" she asked in what was a perfect imitation of Hiccup's dry sarcasm.

Toothless' ears perked up to that. Not even Astrid could duplicate Hiccup's drawl tone-for-tone.

"I-I don't believe it. It's been eight years, yeah, you're right!" Hiccup said between half-chuckles, running his hand through his hair. Half of his mind was overfilled with joy of being reunited with one of his oldest –and only- friends, and the other half was fretting over what her presence here on Berk would bring.

"And in that time you've already forgotten my name?" she asked, a pretty eyebrow raised.

"Camicazi! Of course I remembered your name!" he said a little too loudly, some curious eyes diverted to him for awhile.

"Good, I was beginning to worry that you've forgotten all about me," she said with a devilish smirk that made his stomach flip into a knot. The small, hyper girl that he knew as a kid had certainly turned up to be a prime example of a fine young woman. Light silvery-blue eyes, soft red lips, long, wispy golden hair that reached all the way to her *gulp* rear, a blue fur collar that led to a fitting sleeveless red cotton dress reaching to barely half her thighs, light jewelry splashed here and there and a rather impressive sword holstered to her left. Hiccup was inwardly sort of happy that she wasn't taller than him. At least he had that much over her.

"Like what you see?" she asked in a lightly mischievous voice that was all-too dangerous for Hiccup. As pretty as she was, Hiccup already has self-committed his heart to Astrid, and this supposed flirting is not at all good in his books.

He bit his lip as he looked away, tugging at the fur vest that was starting to feel _way_ too stuffy. He managed to catch the eye of his dragon, who was now imitating a raised-eyebrow expression that clearly said '_And what do you think __**you're**__doing?'_

"It's not my fault!" Hiccup hissed through gritted teeth, and his one-second attention to Toothless was all it took for Camicazi to notice him.

"Oh he's so kee-yoooot!" she almost squealed and before Toothless could react, he was tugged into a cuddle of blonde hair and blue fur. "So _this_ is what a Night Fury looks like. Well aren't you the biggest, cutest thing on wings? And your name is…?"

She gave one inquisitive look to Hiccup, waiting for his answer.

"Toothless."

"Oh how nice. Toothless. …._Toothless_?"

She looked back and forth disbelievingly between the boy and the dragon. And then she suddenly gently pried open Toothless's mouth, earning a very surprised yelp form both dragon and rider alike. Hiccup was more concerned about Camicazi rather than Toothless. For one, Camicazi wouldn't be able to bite Toothless back in retaliation for having her mouth suddenlt opened.

"I see 2 rows of perfectly sharp teeth," she said before closing Toothless's snout, said dragon giving an undignified whine. She responded by softly stroking his nose.

"Were you trying to give him a name poking at humor? Like calling a Gronkle Fatless or a Nadder Vainless?"

Hiccup shrugged. "He retracts his teeth when he bolts his fire." Camicazi turned to Toothless, who demonstrated a gummy smile to her. It sent her into a small fit of giggles as she patted the dragon some more. "Heh-heh, that's just so cool, and he's just so _cute_."

The second the words _cute_ were uttered, all three of them were covered by a large wing-shaped shadow and before Hiccup knew it, he was seeing gold. As in, scales that were the most brilliant of gold.

Stepping back, he could see that it was another breed of dragon he had never seen before, and what a beautiful breed it was. Standing regally, this golden dragon had a slight long neck and a head crowned in several protruding plates like Toothless, wings that looked almost feather-like in shape and a tail that curled towards the end. If Toothless was the perfect example of a sleek, stealthy dragon, this new, golden dragon was the perfect example of beauty and poise.

And it sported the same necklace design that Camicazi wore.

"Is that…your dragon?" Hiccup asked.

"Yup. Hiccup, this is Stormfly. Stormfly, Hiccup," she gestured to her dragon, who didn't' look all too pleased with her still cuddling Toothless, who strangely, was wide-eyed and almost frozen on the spot.

"Hi there," Hiccup said, extending his hand in the customary order everyone on Berk now did when approaching a dragon that was unfamiliar with them.

Stormfly looked very wary of Hiccup, suspecting that he was possibly in cahoots with the strange black dragon that has her rider going gaga over, but edged her head closer to his hand, not sensing any form of danger coming from him.

His palm landed softly on the tip of her snout, and Stormfly purred as Hiccup began to softly pat her head. "She's beautiful, Cami. How did you find her?"

"Actually, it's Stormy here who found _me_. We were heading back this one time from Freezing To Death when this small rainstorm hit. It was no big deal, but I saw this golden speck flying in and over the storm. We went for a closer look, and we saw her, regally flying around the clouds and dipping into the water as if she was playing in the storm itself. You can guess by now how she got her name, right?" Camicazi asked, Hiccup nodding. Stormfly looked pleased that her rider was telling about her origins. Regal indeed.

"So I thought to myself that 'hey, this dragon's so cool. I want it.' So I took one of the dried herrings we had (Toothless suddenly snorted) and I called out to her. She looked like she was tired from all that flying about as she just _landed_ there on our ship –thank Odin that it was big enough for her to fit in- and took the fish.

" I did that hand thing that we learned from the guys back at Freezing To Death –of course, credits still go to you, the original- and she accepted me. Never left my side since," Camicazi finished, letting go of Toothless to give Stormfly a hug around the neck.

Hiccup estimated that Stormfly was around the same size as Toothless, but with a higher neck, she was naturally taller than him. Now that he noticed, Stormfly didn't have a fish on her snout when she first landed here.

Camicazi must have noticed it as well because she suddenly growled "Stormfly! Did you just steal that fish from there?"

She pointed over to a small barrel of fish just mere feet away from Stormfly, and the dragon shook her head. Then Hiccup blinked, and almost wish he didn't.

Stormfly, the dragon that was the most brilliant of gold was now a deep shade of violet. Hiccup blinked again for several times before rubbing his eyes. Camicazi didn't seem to be reacting to it, so was Hiccup the only one seeing this? She _did_ say that Stormfly was gold earlier, right?

"Oh, I forgot to tell you, she's what we call a Mood Dragon. She changes colors every time her mood's different, and she's a pathological liar. Her turning purple is the only giveaway that she's lying about something," Camicazi said, pursing her lips and placing her hands on her hips, not at all amused with her dragon.

"…Wow. Can't wait for Fishlegs to get a load of that…" Hiccup said. Dragons outside of Berk were truly fascinating.

"Fishlegs? Oh, yeah, I remember him too. Always talking about statistics and stuff, right? He was a funny one," Camicazi reminisced. Fishlegs was the only other one who spent time with Hiccup, Thuggery and Camicazi when they were younger. When Camicazi got herself banished by Stoick, the group sort of disbanded itself when Thuggery couldn't come to Berk as often as he could anymore.

"Yeah, he hasn't changed. But he's taller now. And bigger. Much bigger," Hiccup replied. He meant no insult, really.

"Oh c'mon,how big could he be?"

"Hey, he's big enough to- Toothless! Bad dragon!" Hiccup suddenly yelled, much to Camicazi's surprise. Toothless was almost hypnotically handing Stormfly another fish from the already-pilfered basket, all while the now-golden dragon was blinking repeatedly at the Night Fury.

"Oh, one more thing," Camicazi said as she pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. "Stormfly is the biggest flirt I've ever known. She's charmed just about every other male dragon back at Bog around her finger –I mean- claw."

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Your dragons at Bog are interested at other breeds of dragons?"

"Hey, Stormfly's the only one who has that kind of effect with other dragons. There's this one time where a Nightmare tried to show off to her how big was his-"

"-Oooookay, I think I've heard enough about that," Hiccup said with a grimace as Stormfly finished the fish that Toothless offered, all while the smitten Night Fury was almost lolling his tongue out like some drunk. He did snap to when Stormfly, now a light pink, licked her lips and nudged it right against Toothless's, whose eyes almost rolled backwards as he gave his goofy gummy smile, falling backwards dreamily like he was given an overdose of kitty grass.

"…Kiss-up," Hiccup facepalmed as Camicazi giggled at both dragons.

"He's being sweet. And speaking of which, eight years has really been a long time, eh?" she asked, suddenly smiling sweetly at him.

"Yeah, it has. I missed the old gang," Hiccup nodded, still looking at the dragons.

"Anyone you missed in particular?"

The mead-sweet tone in her voice made Hiccup's heart jump. _Uh-oh_.

"W-w-well, I…"

"Oh don't tell me you're gonna say _Thuggery_, aren't you?"

"N-no!"

"Then?"

She was now mere inches from him, hands that were once behind her back now snaking their way across Hiccup's neck.

"Cami, I know it's been awhile, and that we're all good old friends, but I've got…"

He turned to Toothless for some sort of help or intervention, but the stupid, useless reptile was positively lovestuck by a cuddling Stormfly.

"A what? Don't tell me you've got yourself a _girlfriend_ already, Hicky?"

_Ooooh boy, she's using my old nickname. Oh please, Odin, don't let Astrid see me like this!_

The next voice to speak, cold and positively deadly, was a confirmation to Hiccup that the gods definitely will never hear his prayers.

"Yes, _do_ tell her if you've got yourself a girlfriend already, _Hicky_."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**Woohoo, fast, wasn't I? Well, rather faster than usual, I mean….**

**Dum-dum-dummmm, what happens next, I wonder? Find out next time, on Desperate Shieldmaidens –I mean- Ruminations. 8D**

**Voldyne: **Thanks for the warm welcome-back. =) Well, I wanted to show a more humorous or comical side to Stoick, writing a note on his son's forehead out of sheer annoyance that he won't wake up sooner or something.

**A. Kingsleigh: **Yay! It's been a long hiatus, but I'm back for now. Glad you like the Astrid-Toothless bits. I just like to show a greather friendship to them both and I'm happy that you can appreciate Astrid's soft side. =)

**Foxy's Girl: **Aww, sorry Foxy, I like to shake things up a lil' here and there, but I promise you more fluff in the upcoming chapters and I hope you can make do with a chest-groping Astrid for now, eh? ;)

**4ever2010: **Hehe, thanks for agreeing on the shortage of reviews. I need more constructive feedback and all ;(( And you're right, Astrid-Toothless bonding time is kinda like fluff on it's own no? I'm happy that you saw it that way, that Astrid can have her own weird quirks or stuff. I was thinking that diaries back in their times were kinda odd and all because Vikings and diaries don't really match up that well on a normal basis, don't they? :/ And no worries, mate, the longer the review, the better! Thanks again!

**Romance and Musicals: **Haha, I know, right? 'When In Rome' was made of sheer win, in my books. =) And thanks for the thinking it's special. I just like to see/read anything that has to do with Astrid and Toothless being nice with one another.

**So don't just stop there, folks! I need more reviews to keep me goin'! Anything you wanna talk about this chapter, good, bad or Gronkle-butt ugly, you tell me, 'kay? Gotta know if I'm doing things right or not…**

**So as for the next chapter, it might take awhile, or sometime by tomorrow or the night after. Depends if I can flesh out the whole thing on time. **

**Peace!**


	7. Chapter 7

**And here's the next chapter. Hope you guys are prepared. =)**

**For Every Action…**

"_C'mon, Breaker, we gotta make sure they don't tear off the Hall's roof when they land or something." _

**-Astrid, on sighting an elated Night Fury and his rider flying around Berk-**

Astrid was an understanding person. When she left Hiccup a note saying that she would wait for him at the Hall, half her mind knew he was going to take advantage of that window of opportunity.

Bringing Cloudbreaker out of her stable and beginning the slow walk to the Mead Hall thanks to the very long wall of Vikings heading around the same direction. On hind sight, she figured it might have been a wiser decision to _fly_ to the Hall's entrance instead of taking the scenic route, but she brushed that thought aside. If she flew, Hiccup would spot her in a heartbeat and he'd insist to accompany her, thus ruining his one-on-one session with Toothless.

She also didn't mind just keeping an eye on him from here on the ground. Astrid could see the utter joy in his face as he swooped over some of the lower roofs and made the most daring of turns, eliciting some _oohs_ and _aahs_ from the visiting Vikings. Clearly they were not used to Night Fury aerobatics on a daily basis.

And in that sense, her pride for the boy soared. He made this all happen. He is the one responsible for the healthy number of dragons that are now mixed into this group of Vikings trudging their way uphill, for the bursts of color that are now permanently mixed into the everyday life of Berkians and other Vikings all over Midgard.

Although it was no secret that he admired almost everything about her –her bravery, her dedication, her honesty- she silently admired several things about the boy himself. His never-ending curiosity, his ability to analyze and find roundabouts to almost any situation, his utter passion for everything he does…

He was still clumsy and stutters whenever the pressure sets on him quick, but right now, as he gracefully soars on the skies on what was once the most impossible dragon to lay eyes on, there was no one on Midgard that was more –dare she say it- beautiful than Hiccup.

_And he's all mine_, she thought with the widest smirk she ever had.

She was brought back to reality when he and Toothless descended somewhere along the foot of the stairs leading to the Hall. The still-trudging wall was moving too slow for Astrid's pace and after all, she did tell him to meet her there. There was no way in Hel hat she was going to be later by more than a few minutes. She had a reputation to maintain.

"Okay, Breaker, change of plans, Ready for some tricky maneuvering?" she asked, leading the Nadder off the main road and into the almost quiet alleys of Berkian homes. She got right on and braced herself and her dragon for what she knew was something risky, a little dangerous, and Hiccup's definition of crazy.

"Hyah!" she gave an almighty yell as she and Breaker raced through the alleyway, putting the Nadder's excellent footwork to good use. She more or less knew where to turn and when to actually jump over people's houses, the Nadder's thick, powerful legs and wings just giving them enough room to roof-step over some hard-to-trek areas. From what she could see from her peripheral vision, they were making good time as she could see the Hall getting closer. The sea of people at the foot of the stairs did prevent her from pin-pointing Hiccup, however.

Thinking that she had chipped off quite enough roofs for one day, she motioned Breaker to land at a relatively vacant opening near the stairs. She reckoned that Hiccup must have been close by because there wasn't that many clear areas big enough for them to land. "Okay, girl, best we take the rest of the journey on foot. My butt gets sore every time I ride you without a saddle."

Breaker snorted defiantly in response. It wasn't _her_ fault if her hatchling couldn't bear to ride bareback the very scales that she took the best care to groom every so often.

Amidst the crowd that she and Breaker delved into, trying her best to avoid bumping into human and dragon alike, she could hear the yelp of a certain dragon that strangely sounded like Toothless'. What was strange was that Toothless never sounded like that before. All the more that she hastened her speed.

Bad thing was, the smell of dragon musk and good old Viking sweat was beginning to overwhelm her as she still tried to carve her way through with forcefully polite '_excuse_ _me's_ and '_coming_ _through's_. Just how many Gods-damned Vikings were there?

She noticed that the people around her were beginning to divert their attentions to the skies and for a second Astrid thought that Hiccup had taken to the skies again. However, the black dragon she expected to suddenly shoot up into the sky never came. Instead, a dragon that was as gold as the afternoon sun itself was descending somewhere to her right. Now Astrid had read the dragon manual several times and a dragon with _that_ kind of silhouette and brilliant color was _never_ in it. And where said dragon landed was roughly the same direction as Toothless' apparent yelp. _Right, if there ever were a reason needed to double-time it…_

Finally breaking free, she was instead greeted by a wall. A very big wall that belonged to a house that seemed to appear out of _nowhere_. Were the other Vikings really that tall until she didn't see that house coming?

Groaning aggravatedly, she brought herself and Cloudbreaker around the house and into a small open patch of land and what caught her eyes sent a shock to her system harder than any physical blow could ever do to her.

Yes, the sun-dragon was there, and so was Toothless (so the yelp was real), but the image of some _girl_, wrapping her arms around none other than Hiccup_, her_ Hiccup was more than enough for that girl's death warrant. And maybe, just maybe, Hiccup's as well.

Breaker, apparently, was taking this even worse that Astrid herself was, as she let out an almost gasp-like squawk of scandalized shock. The blonde axe-maiden was just frozen where she stood, not even sure if the image right in front of her was just merely the aftereffects of the blood and adrenaline rush.

Only then did her rationalization kick in. This was real. There were far more impossible things that were actually part of reality. Hiccup befriending a dragon. The Vikings discovering the dragon's nest. The Green Death. …Death. Death. Kill. Kill the wench!

_Whoah…where did that come from?_

Now, ever since she was a young girl, her parents always taught her to always _think_ before acting. Analyze a situation, find a way to solve the problem, or remove the problem from the equation. And right now, a girl that was embracing Hiccup like Ragnarok was upon them was the problem. So how does Astrid solve this one? Easy.

With the axe that was conveniently sheathed and holstered behind her back. Or the dirk that she has hidden behind her boot. Or she could always borrow a few of Breaker's spikes….

No, killing her was not the wisest of options. Not just yet. The girl may look like she thought Hiccup was the best tasting thing since roast turkey, but Hiccup was terrified beyond reasonable doubt. For one thing, his hands were floating aimlessly around his sides instead of replying the girl's embrace in kind.

Which simply meant she instigated this hug and very knew well that Hiccup was not comfortable with it. Oh she was going to pay _big time_.

Gesturing Breaker to hold her ground, Astrid slowly made her way closer to the both of them until they were within earshot, though none of them seemed to notice the presence of a very, _very_ livid girl approaching them.

She could hear him babble nervously and it only riled her up more. Only _she_ could make Hiccup do that. She alone and no one else. She did however pick up some lines like 'good old friends' or something.

The girl's reply, almost teasing Hiccup's possibility to have a girlfriend almost threw Astrid over the patience threshold, but the way she called him in the end was the last straw.

_Hicky_.

It was like drinking the honey-mead at weddings. Sickeningly sweet and leaving a horrible aftertaste. And it was utterly ridiculous to call him that, _as_ _if_ she knew him so fondly and intimately and…wait, did she?

Regardless, Astrid knew it was her time to finally act.

"Yes, _do_ tell her if you've got yourself a girlfriend already, _Hicky_."

There, nice and venomously bitter with a warped, deadly take at Hiccup's brand of sarcasm. She almost felt the urge to hurl at using that _pet name_ for Hiccup, and she really wasn't entirely mad at him, but she had to drive the point home, and looking as fearsome and intimidating as she possibly could.

Mamma always said first impressions counted most.

"A-Astrid!" Hiccup almost shrieked. Okay, he was _really_ scared now. And for good reason.

"Oh, you remembered me? I thought you've already completely moved on to the next blonde in sight," she retorted. In a second she completely regretted saying that as Hiccup looked more broken than he ever did.

"W…._what_?" was all he could gasp out. He knew this looked bad, but Astrid _couldn't _possibly think that he was two-timing her…could she?

"And _you_ are?" the strange blonde girl growled in faux politeness, her eyes narrowing dangerously and not yet releasing her grip from Hiccup. To Astrid, the girl actually seemed to be _tightening_ her hold.

"None of your concern," Astrid bit back. She wasn't going to play the _'I'm his girlfriend' _card just yet, not when the other girl was still having the high ground (note: arms around Hiccup).

"Is that so? Could've sworn Hiccup was calling you 'Astrid' just a second ago," the girl jeered, and Astrid found herself beginning to hate everything about her. Her smooth golden hair not unlike her very own, that red dress that was too infuriatingly loud for average tastes ,those _stupid_ earrings that were just too big for her tiny frame and –hah!- Astrid's taller than her! Beat that!

"Well what's it too you, short-stuff?" Astrid replied, taking advantage of the only leverage she had, Hiccup's jaw dropping and looking even more terrified than usual. "Astrid, no! Don't ever call her-"

The girl's face darkened as she finally released her grip from Hiccup, almost shoving him aside with impressive force. Astrid knew she struck a nerve as the blonde girl was now lowering ever-so-slightly into a battle stance. Was it the right thing to insult her height? Provoking a potential enemy sometimes ended up in two ways, one of them better avoided.

"The _name's_ Camicazi. _Heir_ to the Bog-Buglar Tribe of Wild Women. And _what _might be _your_ lineage?" she declared in a haughty air Astrid never knew she had mere seconds ago.

Hier to the Bog-Buglars? So she's Big-Boobied Bertha's daughter, then? Astrid did not find it wise at all if she found herself in a scuffle with the daughter of one of Berk's closest allies' chieftain. _Especially_ not during the Gathering of The Clans.

But said girl was intruding on Astrid's own personal territory. And as Vikings, it was only fair to fight for what's rightfully their own, right? Astrid was sure that Stoick and the rest would understand.

And in the depths of her mind, she chided herself for categorizing Hiccup as a property that needed defending. He was a living, breathing person in his own right. But she never had to defend her relationship with Hiccup prior to this. Was this the right way to do it? Squaring off with the girl who sees herself fit to wrest Hiccup away from her?

But before it came down to crossing blades (which Astrid didn't fully mind) there was a chance to settle this the smart way. The _Hiccup _way.

"Astrid Hofferson. Daughter of Arkin Hofferson, one of the top lieutenants to Stoick the Vast. And _I _am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the 3rd's _girlfriend_," she said in an icy, dignified tone of her own. It, however, definitely wasn't enough to outclass the girl's nobility, so Astrid had herself beat on that front.

The only noble title in her family name was that of her father's position, not nobility by blood, like Hiccup or this Camicazi. And that was when several fears already began to spring into Astrid's mind. She's dealing with the heir to one of Berk's mightiest allies, who happens to have a dangerous interest in Hiccup. The math wasn't adding up to Astrid's favor already.

"Girlfriend? No _wonder_ he was so afraid to hug me back," Camicazi sniggered, sending a wry smile Hiccup's way. The boy gulped before looking apologetically at Astrid, who didn't really see it. She had one and only one concern at hand. Removing the problem from the equation.

"And now that we've got that bit settled, I want you to lay your hands off him for good," Astrid said in the most threatening voice that she could carry. Her fists were clenched so tightly and her heart so set on pouncing on the girl right now to get her point through, but her rational side was practically holding her feet to the ground. A group of considerable amount of people were now gathering around them, eager to watch the spectacle unfold before them.

"And who are you to tell me what I can or cannot do with Hiccup? Regardless whether you're his girlfriend or not, you do not _own_ him," she said, almost as if shifting the entirety of the blame to Astrid.

Good, she always welcomed a daunting challenge.

"Of course I don't own him. But I do have the right to defend the relationship between him and I from some wench –oh, pardon me- a wench with _nobility_ who sets foot on Berk and thinks she can take the first hot guy that she sets her eyes on!" Astrid raised her voice rather unnecessarily at the last two words, but she hoped the insult found its way home. Hiccup's eyebrows shot up. Did Astrid just indirectly call him _hot_?

Astrid was surprised, however, when Camicazi merely raised an eyebrow at that remark. She got out of her battle stance and crossed her arms, her lips pursed in annoyance.

"You think I just met Hiccup _today_ and decided he was the best guy around here to bone?"

Hiccup's mouth was blabbering up and down wordlessly at that starement. Camicazi said _what?_

When Astrid couldn't really make head or tail of that statement, Camicazi decided to elaborate.

"I knew Hiccup ever since we were toddlers, _Astrid_. I've been his only other best friend asides from Thuggery of the Meathead Clan until we were 8 and I…couldn't come back to Berk due to some…complications." Astrid could tell that Camicazi was improvising her way out of the last few words, and decided to jump on that.

"What complications, exactly?"

"She stole my dad's underwear, while he was still wearing them. She got herself the title of Youngest Public Nuisance and was banished," Hiccup recited absent-mindedly before slapping his hands over his mouth in sheer horror. The crowd exploded in fits of raucous laughter as Camicazi glared daggers at the russet-haired boy. It was hard to distinguish whether the other Vikings were laughing at Camicazi for getting herself banished or at Stoick for actually allowing such an incident to happen in the first place. Either way, some were clutching their sides as tears were beginning to roll down their faces.

"Here I was hoping that most Berkians would forget that by now and here you are refreshing their memories and letting those from the other clans in on it too. Thanks a lot, Hiccup."

In all her life, Astrid never heard of something more absurd. Tamed Night Fury, acceptable, dragon the size of a mountain, understandable, but Stoick the Vast's_ underwear _stolen _while_ he was wearing them? Was the Chief drunk or something? And what person alive could pull that off anyway?

"And what made you think that the term 'bansihment' only lasts for 8 years?" Astrid asked.

If Camicazi was trying to sneak into Berk undetected, her ploy was thrown out the window right there and then. There were at least a good few dozen witnesses right here.

Still, Camicazi didn't flinch or twitch in the slightest. Again, she merely raised an eyebrow.

"In a few years' time, Big Bertha, my mother, is going to make me Chieftain of the Bog Isles. Since the Gathering of the Clans is every 3 years, now's a good time as any to begin my formal training. And besides, I was only 8. I'm appealing with my mother later to have the banishment status removed."

"And you squaring-off here against me are helping your chances how?"

"Well that bit wasn't taken into consideration," Camicazi said through gritted teeth, her own fists dangerously balling up.

Hiccup really needed to stop this before things really went out of hand. The crowd was slowly increasing and Thor forbid that his dad or Cami's mom were amongst them. "Well okay now, I think it's about time we wrapped this-"

"Stay out of this!" both girls yelled at him before continuing to glare at one another. Oh well, at least he tried.

"I don't think it's _right _for her to come back here like this," Astrid growled.

"Well I don't think you know your place, daughter-of-a-lieutenant," Camicazi spat back.

By the time Astrid realized it, they were now just mere inches from each other's faces. She didn't even realize when they bridged the distance.

"What? See something you like? There's plenty for you to envy," Camicazi said, running hand through her long mane of sun-colored hair. Astrid noted that it was longer than her own. Meh.

"Your height not being one of them, definitely." Another low blow, but Astrid is one to take whatever openings she can get.

"That's it!" Camicazi yelled before shoving Astrid with enough force to make her back-step. She was actually taken aback that in the end Camicazi would be the one to initiate the almost inevitable fight amidst the worryingly growing crowd.

Astrid slowly unsheathed her axe, unwrapping the leather and cloth bindings around it, the blades reflecting the sun's ray. "Stay, Breaker. This one's personal," she gestured to Cloudbreaker who was just ready to launch the spikes from her tail.

"Easy Stormfly. Nothing I can't handle," Camicazi said to her Mood Dragon as she was now focused on the impending fight instead of Toothless. The Night Fury was slowly regaining his senses when he took in the situation. Both girls smelled heavily of intense pent-up wrath, just ready to blow at the slightest catalyst.

"We'll see about that," Astrid countered as she hefted the axe, Camicazi withdrawing her own sword. Hiccup had to admire the workmanship on the blade. It was thin, but looked solid enough to go toe-to-toe with Astrid's axe. The best parts were the strange gold insignias etched across the spine of the sword.

"Made by Bog Isles' finest. Who made yours?" Camicazi dared to ask, as if competing on yet another level again. Astrid was beginning to be irritated by her knack of not _shutting up_.

"Only the best blacksmith in Berk," Astrid casually replied, pointing at Hiccup. Camicazi looked at him like he had just been crowned by Odin himself. Hiccup gulped at the many eyes that were directed at him but he could have sworn Astrid gave him a grin of confidence for a fraction a second before her usual scowling mask of sheer determination took over.

No one seemed eager to stop them, because a healthy, good old-fashioned roughhousing (with weapons included) was all too common during gatherings like these and both girls weren't stupid. One was a visiting emissary and another was the girlfriend to the host village's heir. Permanent damage was best avoided.

"Ready, princess?" Astrid jeered, spinning the axe casually with such grace that would have Hiccup sighing if he wasn't so worried about the fight that was taking _forever_ to start.

"Ready when you are," Camicazi scowled, edging closer with her sword swaying in a technique Hiccup had never seen before. Then she made the opening move.

Spinning over several times, Camicazi gave herself enough momentum to slam her blade hard enough against Astrid's defensive stance, the sickening sound of clanging metal making all dragons in the vicinity flinch. The high-pitched noise was dizzying, but their inherent curiosity made them remain planted on the ground. Play-fights between dragons were aplenty, so what were a few scuffles between their Viking counterparts?

Astrid rebounded herself from Camicazi's blow and swung her axe in an upward strike, the blonde swordswoman back-flipping to dodge it. Hiccup had to admit, even this early into the fight it was easy to determine that Camicazi was on par with Astrid.

"So tell me, Astrid, have you ever done anything monumental with Hiccup to plant your status as his girlfriend?" Camicazi asked almost as if they were having a round of ale in a tavern, the reality being she was now locking blades with Astrid's axe, her slightly lower height giving her a better foothold.

"I've done," Astrid grunted as she shoved the other girl out of her way, steadying her axe for a backswing. "_Many_ things with Hiccup that are none of your concern."

Hiccup's cheeks flushed ever so little at the recollections of what exactly he had done with Astrid on several occasions, and he saw that the slight hue of pink was apparent on Astrid as well as her blade missed Camicazi's boots by mere inches. Both girl's nimble footwork and staggering accuracy meant that every strike and dodge was by the near inches and cutting it too close for Hiccup's liking.

"Oh really? Could've had me fooled," Camicazi muttered, Astrid just getting a little ticked off. How can someone have this much mouth in the middle of a fight?

"Who do you think gave him his first kiss? Or his first hickey?" Astrid countered verbally and with a magnificent slam of her axe that sent sparks flying and Camicazi staggering a little. The Wild Woman let out a little "Ooof," as she regained her footing, flexing her wrists a little. Several wolf-whistles went out to Hiccup's direction, including several whoops of "Hiccup, you lucky horndog!" or the like.

"You think that's an accomplishment?" she asked with a menacingly wry smile. Hiccup instinctively tried to dig deeper into his older memories to try and find something Camicazi could be possibly be using as leverage. What could she use as a counter for Astrid's comment?

Then it hit him. _Oh no. Oh no no no no no!_

"Who do you think first saw him _naked_?"

There was a second of utter silence that stretched for what seemed like seasons as all eyes were either locked at either Camicazi or Hiccup. Astrid's blank stare was boring holes into the back of Hiccup's head. Oh gods, he _had_ to say something now before she found this fight more and more ridiculous and would just drop the whole thing altogether. And him as well.

"Oh for the love of…Aaargh! We were seven! We were playing healer! _You_ tied me to a tree!" Hiccup cried with an accusing finger pointed at a sheepishly grinning Camicazi. "You gave me the excuse that you were just _curious_!"

"Well, that I did," Camicazi grinned. "I wonder if there's any improvement since then, eh?"

Most of the people in the crowd cringed one way or another, including Hiccup, who was shuddering. "Cami! Ewww! Why would you even _say_ that?"

Astrid, however, was shaking her head. This girl was downright _crazy_.

"Nice to know you've been traumatizing Hiccup since his early childhood days," she muttered before locking blades with Camicazi again. The wild grin on the Bog Buglar only grew wider as she laughed. "Well that's the basis of a good, old and strong friendship, dearie." And with that, Camicazi back-stepped a little too strongly, Astrid unprepared for it. As a result, the lock was broken, but the area above Astrid was immediately left open to a strike, which Camicazi took without mercy.

Unable to use the blades of her axe to counter that fast, Astrid had to resort to using the handle as a shield. That being Camicazi's plan, her sword would cleanly cut through wooden handle and though not necessarily hurt Astrid, it would disrupt the balance of the axe's handling, putting things in Camicazi's favor.

What she did not expect, however, was the metallic _clang_ as her blade came into contact with said handle. The sword did cut through the wood, but some invisible force halfway seemed prevent any further movement.

"Custom-made metal-core handle. The wood's just for cosmetic purposes. You think Hiccup and I never anticipated something like this to happen?" Astrid asked with a grin to Camicazi's surprised look. She took that moment of surprise to let herself fall backwards, taking Camicazi with her, but not before Astrid planted a boot squarely at the pit of Camicazi's stomach.

Astrid let herself fall completely backwards and still taking Camicazi with her, reverse-tumbled-rolled and launched Camicazi flying backwards. The girl landed with a dusty _thud _right behind Astrid as the axe-maiden rolled to get herself right back up. She needed to be right on her feet before Camicazi was, regardless of the successful maneuver.

Seeing the rising silhouette of Camicazi mere fractions of a second after rising on her own, she thrust the axe at the general direction, but not before the unmistakable sound of cold, sharp metal whisked past her left cheek. When her vision focused, she could see the tip of her axe's blade almost pressing against Camicazi's temple, but said girl's sword was hanging centimeters from Astrid's left cheek. She could already feel the grim coldness of the blade and wagered that Camicazi was feeling the same as well.

"I see Hiccup has great tastes in warrior girls, then. I haven't had a good spar like that in ages, even back in Bog," Camicazi said with a grin that Astrid did not at all trust. For one thing, both sets of blades were yet to be moved from their current positions.

"You're not half bad with that sword either," Astrid said. As much as she was trying to wield the axe steadily one-handed, the physical strain was beginning to take its toll. Finally Camicazi relented and removed her infernal sword from its dangerous position, and Astrid _slowly_ moved her axe away. Her father always warned her to _never_ give an opening, _especially_ if the fight was apparently over.

"Y'know, we could always use someone of your talent back in the Bog Isles," Camicazi said, offering her hand to help Astrid up. She cautiously accepted the hand and dusted the dirt off her body, Camicazi straightening her hair. The crowd was slowly ebbing away now that they knew the fight was over.

Astrid wasn't sure if Camicazi was just complimenting her to sidetrack the very apparent hostility, but she was beginning to respect the Wild Woman's skill. She was more short of breath and worn out now more than she ever was sparring with Ruffnut.

"Sorry, but I've got too much here on Berk to give up on," Astrid said, all the while looking at Hiccup who was making his way nervously to the girls. "I know what you mean," Camicazi agreed, holstering the sword.

"_Please_ tell me this is all over?" Hiccup asked, his brows furrowed with concern. It was hard to watch two very prominent girls in his life roughing it out when he didn't have the muscles to stop them.

"No worries, Hiccup. Us girls have to vent off some steam sometimes, right?" Camicazi asked Astrid as if they were the oldest of friends. Astrid could only give a nervous "Yeeeah…" in agreement. Hiccup definitely knew the most _interesting_ of people…

Hiccup pinched the bridge of his nose as the dragons now edged themselves closer to their individual riders. Cloudbreaker nudged her rider with a concerned squawk as Stormfly nuzzled her rider's hair. "It's okay, Breaker. Everything's fine now," Astrid crooned softly as Camicazi sooth-said her dragon. Toothless gave Hiccup an inquisitive bark, the boy shaking his head. "_Girls_, right? What do we know about them?"

"Oh man, I'm too lare, aren't I?"

All of them turned to see a panting Thuggery running up to them, clutching his knees out of sheer fatigue.

"Late for what?" Hiccup asked.

"Someone said there was this catfight between two hot girls around here. Guess I'm too late for that, eh?" he asked with a charming grin.

"And who's _this_ lug?" Camicazi asked with squinted eyes, stroking Stormfly.

Thuggery positively lit up after seeing Camicazi for the extremely pretty girl that she was. "Whoah…" was all he could say before giving a handsome, sheepish grin.

Camicazi positively scoffed, rolling her eyes and turning her back at the goofy expression Thuggery was giving. Oh not _another_ good looking wall of muscles.

"Hiccup, I don't believe I've yet been introduced to this fine young woman. And oh, hi Astrid," Thuggery said, only _now_ noticing Astrid as she tried to hide the grin that just cracked out of her scowl. _Boys_.

"Wait," Hiccup said, scratching the back of his head. "You mean you've never seen her too after all these years, Thug?"

Camicazi shot around at the mere mention of that name. "Thug? _Thuggy?_" she asked in utter disbelief.

Thuggery's jaw almost fell clean off at the utter of his old nickname, -the one that like Hiccup's- has not been mentioned by a certain girl for the past 8 years.

"Cami? Cami_cazi_?" he asked in utter disbelief. "Is that really you?"

"Schyeah! You're gotten…more beefy since 8 years ago," Camicazi commented, a slight blush creeping up her face at Thuggery's choice of clothes. His only apparel for a top was a fur vest, with no tunic accompanying it, clearly showing off his toned abs.

"And you've gotten…well, cuter," Thuggery offered, Astrid having to hide her face behind Cloudbreaker. She had never seen Thuggery this goofy, ever.

Camicazi scoffed again with a mutter of "_Boys!",_ her face turning an even more brilliant shade of pink. She sharply turned around and began heading towards the stairs. "Hicky, Astrid, let's get a move on," she said sharply, careful to _not_ mention Thuggery.

"Did I say something wrong?" Thuggery asked Hiccup and Astrid, who both shrugged.

"Give her some time, Thug. I think she's gotta get used to…this," Astrid offered, gesturing to Thuggery's sculpted abs. The boy laughed nervously.

"But…we're used to wearing stuff like this back in Meathead."

"Do keep in mind that she comes from the Bog Isles, Thug," Hiccup said. "There's a shortage there of guys with body muscles like yours. Their women, however…"

That got Thuggery laughing appreciatively, Camicazi shooting back a deadly glance at both boys.

"Oops."

"Why don't you just strike a nice conversation with her or something? Talk about the weather, about swords, you like swords, right?" Hiccup offered, Thuggery deep in thought.

"Yeah, yeah, I like swords and stuff. Thanks, Hiccup!" he said, patting Hiccup's back and heading forward to try and try his luck.

And that left Hiccup alone with Astrid, and enough tension to be speared and roasted for dinner.

"So…" Hiccup began.

"Yeah…"

"Are we, y'know, alright?"

Astrid could feel the hesitance in his voice.

To think of it, the hug Camicazi gave him wasn't his fault. She initiated it; he's just too nice of a guy to push her _out_ of it. And she still had to be a little cautious around that girl. But she knew he was internally beating himself up over it anyway.

Now that the adrenaline was gone, guilt and sheepish shame was beginning to take its place, coursing through her system. She made a big spectacle out of the entire thing, just because she was jealous. Astrid Hofferson was _jealous_.

Snaking her arm around his, she leaned her head softly onto his.

"We're fine, Hiccup. I don't blame you, not one bit. It was the bravado in me talking all those things earlier, but yeah, I'm still going to apologize. I shouldn't have been so mean to you over nothing. I'm sorry. I was…jealous of her."

"Jealous? Astrid Hofferson, jealous? Over me? Wow, I must really be the luckiest man on this side of Midgard," he said with a crack of his witty humor. She chuckled slightly hitting him squarely on the arm for that. He deserved that one, stupid witty git.

"Yeah, I'm jealous. You know why? Because regardless of what she might've said earlier, you're mine, Hiccup. All of…_this_, belongs to me," she said, almost going down to a husky growl.

"You just gestured to all of me," he said, his eyes already half-lidded as Astrid ran a hand up his cheek, pulling him in closer to her.

Their lips barely grazed against each other's before she muttered one last comment before fully engulfing his lips with her own.

"And don't you forget it."

)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

**And here's a combo-stack, two days right after the previous chapter. I'm on a short-term role here, folks. XD**

**So tell me what you thought about the fight, the make-up, and basically anything else that you'd like to say, 'kay? =)**

**A. Kinsleigh: **Well, there's the explanation and the subsequent fight, sans the mutilation. XD I only know of one or two fics that actually have Cami in them, one being from Sliver and Slices by Gumdrop Boo (My Cami here's more or less based on hers as well!) And no love triangle, yay! Hope you didn't lose interest in this one. I wanted Cami to be more like the 'looking out for my best friend' sorta role…

**Voldyne: **Haha, indeed. He wouldn't have come across Toothless in the first place if not for his luck, no? =)

**4ever2010: **Yay for Astrid groping Hiccup! Well, Cami's a spunky girl, from what I read in the wiki. I can understand that she'll be abit more wild that our already-crazy enough Viking friends, eh? Yeah, jealous girlfriends are entertaining, but a jealous Astrid is rather dangerous, no?

**Lady Bronte: **Why thank you! I'm glad you think my fic is citrus-y. Hey, could it be so because of the dash of lemons every now and then? ;) Heeee. As for Cami, it'd be interesting to see her in the sequel that's coming up, but the similarities between her and Astrid are quite apparent, right? Well how's this for jealous, angry Astrid? Not as rampaging mad as we'd expect, but I hope it did her justice. So sorry that the love triangle didn't materialize, because as wild as Cami may be, I think she'd be able to respect the relationship between Hiccup and Astrid, especially after a trade of blows with Berk's finest axe-mainden. =)

**Shade Slayer 333: **And behold, there was a catfight. XD Was it any good to you?

**Romance and Musicals: **Competition, yeah, but not in the way we'd expect, eh? Well now we know that Cami can hold her own! XD

**Kittehz: **Thanks so much, Kittehz! Guess we know now! =)

**Reviews, people. I need more of them! It is the lifeblood of my weary soul! 8D**


	8. Chapter 8

**I think something's up with Foxy's Girl. There's been no news of her for some time, yea? Anyone here who knows how to reach her?**

**And omigosh, I forgot that my anonymous reviews boxed was selected as 'disabled', so dang, I've been keeping some peeps out the door huh? I'm real sorry guys. =(**

**An Understanding**

"_So…swords. Sharp, right?" _

**-Thuggery, to a bewildered Camicazi.-**

When it came to their turn playing host for the annual Gathering of The Clans, the Hairy Hooligans were always at a disadvantage. Guest lodges were very few and far between and during the days of the dragon raids, they were the ones to always get burned down first when they doubled as food storages.

But with the evidence of the new defense catapults and watchtowers being built in record time thanks to the dragons' help, for the first time Berk was able to build enough lodges to accommodate every visiting Viking comfortably.

That was certainly one headache off Stoick's already overcrowded mind. The current one that was standing only tall enough to reach the end of his great beard however, was not as easy a problem to solve.

"Hail to the Chief," the grinning blonde girl greeted. Stoick noted that the goofy salute she gave was no different from the one a certain young girl used to give him. The devious twinkle in that girl's eyes were no different, and neither was that toothy grin, even if she was missing a few milk teeth at that age.

... He really did miss those pair of shorts.

"What part of banishment did you and your daughter suddenly decide to forget, Bertha?" he asked the Chieftain of the Bog Isles who was standing next to him. The tall and mighty woman sniffed indignantly.

"Well I wanted to talk to you about the matter, Stoick. If you remember, Cami was just a wee lass when she stole y-" she paused as Stoick began to inhale sharply. "-when she involved herself in that accident," she hastily corrected.

"I'm sure you can see it in your heart to forgive the girl. After all, we're the Bog Burglars and naturally my own daughter had the talent to do what she did." Stoick had to scoff at that. "And she's all grown up now, Stoick. I've been putting her under various trainings and lessons so when she takes over she'll be up to speed with everything," Big-Boobied Bertha finished with a proud clasp of her daughter's shoulders.

Stoick could have sworn he misheard the last part. "Beg your pardon? _Taking_ _over_?" he asked, masking the utter dread in his tone. Bertha did not seem to notice it even though both Hiccup and Astrid were shifting uncomfortably where they stood. They knew that with every growing second this conversation was not getting any better.

"Aye, she's next in line, after all. A brilliant strategist, an exemplary swordswoman and one of the best dragon riders we Wild Women have. Have you seen her dragon? It changes colors, the crazy thing!" Stoick gave the golden dragon a glance as she turned a slight shade of pink. Hiccup was beginning to see a pattern to the changes, and reckoned this one meant she was either both shy and bashful or she was being flirty. He hoped it was the former. The latter was just…_eugh_.

"Besides, Hiccup, Thuggery and Cami used to play all the time together, right? It'll just be like you, me and Boarfang," Bertha suggested. Stoick understood where she was coming from. Bertha of the Bog Isles, Boarfang of the Meathead Clan and Stoick of the Hairy Hooligans were childhood friends too, and their amicably close relationship had been the main fulcrum that supported the core alliance between these three tribes, the others notwithstanding. If all three of their children were to inherit their respective mantles, it would only do the alliance some good.

And in that sense, Stoick could not seem to find a way to object to Bertha's logic without bringing up the only solid defense he has that makes him sound like a grown man with a grudge against a girl who was only 8 years-old at that time. All he could do was scowl impressively.

Hiccup noticed that Boarfang was scratching the back of his neck nervously with his other hand laid firmly on his son's shoulders. Thuggery himself was cycling in between stealing quick looks at Camicazi and concentrating on the conversation.

Toothless and Breaker were paying no heed whatsoever to the conversation as they were too busy taking in the density of people that are filling the extremely large Mead Hall, all the different sounds and chatter that are mixed in with dragons hanging from the many rafters.

"You think your dad would kick her out regardless?" Astrid whispered into Hiccup's ear, still trying their best to remain still as the adults talked.

"Honestly? It'd look bad on him if he did that now that they're all here. I mean, he can't just tell her to ship off while the Gathering's going on, right?"

"Hmm. Maybe you're right."

"Maybe? _Just _maybe?"

"We're in front of your dad and 2 other Chiefs. I don't think this's a good time for banter."

Hiccup's reply was drowned out before he could even speak by Bertha, who took a more exasperated tone that was just merely on the borderline of pleading. Vikings didn't plead.

"Have a heart, Stoick. I'm sure she's learned her lesson. Right?" she said, not all forcing the last syllable to sound nice when looking at her daughter with the sternest of stares. Camicazi shook her head with a look of innocence that was utterly foreign on the girl and not the least trustable. Not with those bright blue eyes that could've belonged to Loki himself.

"Do it for old time's sake, then," Bertha added in. Astrid harrumphed silently. So Big-Boobied Bertha wasn't below using their pastime as leverage. There's so much to learn from this woman.

Stoick exhaled an almighty gale of a breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had _a_ _lot_ to prepare for before the meeting, and he knew how persistent Bertha can be. And if her daughter was still anything like her mother…

"Fine, she gets one week. The whole span of the Gathering and the festivals after. If, and _only_ if she can prove that she can behave herself and not go _shorts-_snatching every time she's left alone, I'll lift the banishment," he relented, much to Hiccup's surprise. His father was not known to be remarkably lenient.

Bertha and Camicazi were grinning ear-to-ear (and so was Thuggery), completely oblivious another almighty Stoick sigh. "I hate it when you use the 'old time's sake' card on me, Bertie." He mumbled, Boarfang barking out a laugh. "What can I say, Stoick, she's always got us doing whatever it is she wants," he said, wrapping a beefy arm around his old friend. It was more of a tension breaker than anything.

Astrid heard the Chief mutter something along the lines of "Damn right," before he stalked over to the main meeting table with Boarfang in tow, Bertha and Camicazi still beaming like rays of the sun. Astrid could have sworn that Camicazi took a skip for every few steps or so.

"Oh well, let's go," Hiccup said as he wrapped his hand discreetly into Astrid's, a small grin tugging at her lips. He can be such a sweet little distraction sometimes.

Taking in her surroundings again, Astrid noticed that even more Vikings have poured into the Hall now as they followed Stoick and the rest as they took their time to reach the center table. The hollow middle of the large, oval table that was normally used for a bonfire was covered with a firm wooden platform for the opening ceremony where the ceremonious swords of the respective clans were put together as a show of unity.

"Stoick," Spitelout said as the Cheif stood before the table, arms crossed. Not all the leaders were here as of yet but Gertha and Boarfang have already taken their seats across the table. "I just got word that the Vikings from Brass Monkey just made port. That makes everyone."

"Good," Stoick nodded. "Sound the horns."

Spitelout nodded as well before walking off to the entrance. Seconds after that the large metal horns near the Hall's doors sounded off in an almost thunderous roar. Hiccup could feel the sound vibrating through his bones as he patted the Night Fury's head. Understandably, Toothless's ears jerked back and he cringed at the trumpets' bellows. It wasn't as bad as the sickening sounds the Vikings used to make by banging their infernal shields against something, but it still irritated him.

"Sorry, bud. It's to signal whoever's left in the village to get off their butts 'cause the meeting's gonna start." Hiccup explained to Toothless, who snorted in annoyance. The other dragons in the vicinity were equally miffed by the horns as well, but they chose to just swallow it in. Chaos in the middle of a packed Hall of Vikings was not an ideal scenario for dragon and rider alike.

Astrid was softly stroking Breaker's back as the dragon shook her head, trying to refocus. "Easy, girl. Should've warned you about it sooner, huh?" she asked, patting her beak.

"Astrid, you got a minute?"

Expecting Hiccup to say that to her, she was rather surprised when it was the Chief who called out to her quietly from his seat. "Sure, Chief," she said, giving Breaker one last pat before walking over to Stoick.

"What can I do for you, Chief?" she asked, hands behind her back. Her parents always preached that respect and discipline always came first.

"At ease," Stoick said with a gentle smile, Astrid gingerly letting her hands hover aimlessly at her side. It was still rather uneasy to be around the Chief with this familiarity, regardless of her relationship with Hiccup.

"So tell me, Astrid, what's your take on Camicazi?" he asked, trying to sound casual with a nonchalant jerk of the head to the girl in question, who was just finished talking to a very sheepish Thuggery. _Weird_.

"Uhh," Astrid tried to piece together what she wanted to say. Not too long ago she would have a choice amount of words to label the girl, but none of them savory, to say the least. But that was also when she thought that Camicazi was a boyfriend-stealer. But Hiccup aside, that possibility was yet to be ruled-out either…

"She's not at all bad with that sword of hers?"

Stoick raised an auburn eyebrow at Astrid's choice of words. True, she was the best fighter of her generation, but surely there were better ways to judge people aside from their weapon proficiency. "And how do you know if she's good with that thing, aside from Chieftain Bertha's earlier words?"

"Because I was in a duel with her earlier, sir," she said. What? There was no need to hide that fact.

Now both of Stoick's eyebrows shot up.

"A _duel_? When in Thor's name did _that_ happen?"

"When I caught her with her arms around Hiccup earlier, sir."

It took Stoick a second to really process the whole sentence through. And in that pause Astrid suddenly panicked, unsure if Stoick was just going to jump out from his seat and kick Camicazi out there and it would be her fault for messing things up and…oh boy…

Instead, Stoick shook his head while exhaling loudly.

"She's been doing that to him ever since they were small. Well, small_er_," Stoick muttered, and Astrid let out a breath she did not even realize she was holding. Phew, at least that part's safe and in the clear.

"So did you beat her?"

She heard the cheeky optimism in his voice and couldn't resist letting out a giggle.

"No, sir, we were at a standstill. Hiccup kept trying to make sure neither of us would get hurt."

"Aye, that's my son, alright. Too decent to appreciate a good cat fight," Stoick said with a grin and a tone that Astrid had never seen or heard of before. Her lips tugged into a small smile at the Chief's humor.

"But you know what? You remind me of Val right here."

And speaking of things you'd not expect someone to say…

"I beg your pardon?"

"Aye, I'm telling the truth. You see, when I was around your age Bertha used to do that to me too. The hugging and such, I mean. Just for the heck of it. I reckon it's a Bog Isles thing. And at that time I was already courting Hiccup's mother, Valhallarama. Odin, was she something," he reminisced.

"So there was one time when Bertha was visiting, and she practically threw herself on me, and Val was walking by when she saw that. Now you can more or less tell she wasn't happy with that, not at all, and gave Bertha that pretty one over there with the fishing spear she had," he said, pointing to a thin but prominent scar on Bertha's forearm. Stoick smiled fondly at no general direction. "I didn't stop them from fighting 'cause honestly, how often was it that two girls were fighting over one guy?"

Astrid smiled as she finally understood where Hiccup got some of his cheekiness from. Some part of her was also thrilled as the Chief never shared so much with someone unless he had the uttermost confidence with them. Maybe he'd share this with her dad?

"So when they fought themselves to a standstill, you know what they did?" he asked with a twinkle in his eye. Astrid gulped a little as the shadow of a crooked smile not unlike his very own son's crept up his moustache.

"They started laughing. Like wild women –well, one of them _is_ a wild woman…- but you get my point. They've been close friends ever since. She was the bridesmaid at our wedding."

"And the point of it all is, sir?"

"That sometimes friends can come from the most awkward of situations," Stoick said as she ran a hand through his beard. "And in _her_ case…it's as awkward as awkward can be."

He meant Camicazi.

She really couldn't fully hide the snort of a laugh she let out, and Stoick gave her an amused look.

"But a word of advice, Astrid. Keep an eye on that girl. She's not as devious or havoc-wreaking as Loki himself, but even back then she was more than a handful for even her own mother," he said, giving Camicazi a subtly stern look. "I trust that you can keep Hiccup and the rest safe?"

Astrid nodded sharply and with her best game-face. This was the first request she received directly from the chief, and she fully intended to fulfill that duty. She was almost compelled enough to tell him that regardless of the order, she would keep Hiccup safe no matter what. She knew her duty to her heart as well.

"Well, it's best you head back to the boy before he thinks I'm telling you some embarrassing story of his childhood days again," he said, sending Astrid off with both of them sharing mutual smirks. Stoick once thought it would be amusing to tell all his friends over dinner at the Hall about how he ran around the house butt-naked when he was a tot and yelling "Imma Tewwible Tewworr."

Hiccup didn't speak to his father for 3 days after that, but Stoick thought it was well worth it.

)()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

When all the chiefs have finally gathered and the swords have been laid on the center of the table, the speaking ceremony over and done (Camicazi fell half-asleep through it) the first order of business to be dealt with were the military strategies. Astrid's personal favourite.

"With the dragon threat out of the way, I say we try using 'em against whatever else that's stupid enough to come our way," the chief of Freezing to Death, aptly named Frostbite, said.

Hiccup moved a little uneasily where he stood, and Astrid understood all too well why. He was never comfortable with the idea of using dragons when it came to fighting. So as she discreetly took his hand in hers, she used a finger to trace slow circles on his palm. It sent tickles up his nerves, the good kind, and the feather-light grazes of skin-to-skin were so tranquilly pleasing He looked at her with appreciation and mouthed a 'thanks' to her.

"Maybe we should see how long Roman legionnaire armor lasts against Nightmare fire?" the lady chief of Brass Monkey suggested, to many welcome cheers.

Almost every Viking in Berk and the ones from the visiting clans were packing the hall into almost full capacity, Astrid and Hiccup not at all feeling comfortable with so many eyes around. She could tell that Hiccup wants to have his say in the matter, but the sea of people right here were enough to get _herself_ thinking twice, even when anyone of the audience were allowed free speech in this meeting.

Stoick noticed his son's fidgeting and gave it a thought for a second, remembering something about Nadders sometimes throwing their hatchlings off a cliff when they showed the first capabilities of flying.

"I think my son has something to say on this matter."

Hiccup's grip on Astrid's hands tightens to vice-like strength so hard that she has to bite her lower lip in an effort to stifle the yelp that threatens to jump out of her throat.

Astrid's forcibly silent plea of "Hiccup, my hand!" was lost in all the ringing that was filling his ears now. All eyes were on him. Ohhhhh no, all eyes were on him. Oh boy oh boy ohhhh boy.

"I just might be able to help you if you would just _let go of my hand, Haddock!_" something finally spearheads its way through the white noise and Hiccup realizes that his right hand hurts. He looks down to see Astrid's hand positively white and crushed in his and he hisses a choice swear words before letting go, Astrid trying her level best not to instantaneously grasp the squished hand with her other one.

He barely has time to profusely apologize to her as he remembers that _all eyes are still on him_. The other chiefs are looking at him with what he supposed are magnificent feats of tolerance for the host as his used-to-be-screw-up son is now learning to be something…more. Better. For all he knew they could have been merely confused.

He tries to speak out, really he does, but every time he opens his mouth, the words stop short of leaving his throat and it's just too dry, and he's making a fool out of himself.

_Da-duh-duh, I'm dead_.

Then he feels a warm, soothing hand on his back and he notices that it's Astrid with her warmest smile yet. And she's using the same hand that he supposedly smooshed mere moments ago as if they were fine.

_Deep breath. Breathe in, breath out. You've dealt with a Green Death before. This isn't worse than it. _

"I think we should take the dragons' feelings into consideration when we're deciding to use them for war."

There, he said it. He said it smoothly and he feels so proud of himself! But...why are they looking at him like that?

"Their…feelings?"

Oh great. He managed to speak his mind, finally, but now he has to make sense.

True enough, most Vikings are looking at him as if he just said something to them in Romanese (1). But they knew who Hiccup Haddock was. They knew that when it came to all things related to dragon-human relations, Hiccup was the first guy to turn to. He was the first one to befriend a dragon, after all.

So they knew not to question his credibility when almost all the Hairy Hoolingans in Berk were able to ride dragons.

"What I meant was, the dragons can sometimes just say 'no' in their own way. Not like when a sheep refuses to have its wool shaved off, but more like someone just saying 'no' straight to your face," he said. He wasn't entirely sure how the Vikings from the other villages were going to take to something bigger and more intimidating than they are telling them to shove off every now and then.

But Hiccup had explained this once to the Hairy Hooligans of Berk when Bob the Sled's eyebrows got torched off once when his Terrible Terror refused to deliver a message for him.

"You can't underestimate them, ever. Even now when they're tame like this. They have a good grasp at understanding our language. They have their own moods. They can tell you when's a good time to ride on them and when's the time not to," Hiccup went deeper into explaining. It's actually easier than he thought it would be, when he concentrates on just getting the message through. But Astrid's hand is still on his back and he just loves her for that.

"Sounds just like my wife back home," one of the foreign Vikings muttered, generating a healthy rumble of rowdy laughter.

"You married a Gronkle?" another voice hollers from somewhere else and the laughter doubles.

Hiccup rolled his eyes. Here he was delivering a message that he hoped would get through to them and here they are cracking jokes at it. "It's alright. The jokes were related to what you said earlier, right? See, you've got their attention," Astrid whispers into his ear a little too sensually (even when she doesn't mean to) and it calms him down. He is however, getting a little bothered somewhere else, and kicks himself mentally for even allowing it to happen _here_ of all places.

"You have to remember that dragons are like us. On their own, they're independent. They're not our pets, they're more like…partners. So if you fight alongside them, you have to let them know that you'll give your all to keep them safe and win the fight. Only then will the feelings be mutual."

"But you've never fought against Romans while you're dragon-back, eh?

"I fought against a dragon that's even bigger than this Hall while riding a Night Fury. My life and his were in just as much risk and all we had left was the trust in each other."

It was the dead-set seriousness in his tone and the determination in his eyes that Astrid found truly mesmerizing, bringing her back briefly the first time she fell for those emerald orbs.

_To protect your pet dragon? Are you serious!_

_Yes._

Even now that look on his face still sets flutters into the pit of her belly.

And it was this determination that some of the Vikings were unprepared for. They might have thought that he was just all-mouth until they saw the glimmer in his forest-green eyes.

"Any questions?" This time Stoick speaks, and it's loud enough to shake the other Vikings back. All the other chiefs shake their heads while Bertha is positively beaming at Hiccup. Astrid noted that the Brass Monkey lady chief was giving Hiccup an approving nod.

"So now that's that, we're moving on. Yes, Sharksneeze?"

"Thank you, Stoick. Now a few weeks ago some of my village's dragon scouts spotted some Roman ships off the coast of-"

Hiccup's attention to the meeting was further drowned by Astrid patting him on the shoulder. "You did good out there," she said with a smile, Hiccup returning with a giddy, weak smile of his own as they shrink back into the crowd of Vikings behind Stoick.

Hiccup looked up to see Toothless and Breaker hanging by the rafters as the ground was just too cramped with too many people. Dragons hated to be confined in smothering places and the Vikings trusted the dragons to not drop any…surprises whilst up top.

"I was only good because you had my back. Literally," he said in a lower whisper, because Astrid's father was somewhere nearby and he did not want to sound mushy in front of so much walls of muscle, men and women alike.

"Nevertheless, I'm proud of you," she said before giving him a quick chaste kiss to the lips. That's all he's going to get with this many eyes around the place.

They didn't really pay further attention to the meeting but spent their time people-watching. The Vikings from the other clans were distinctly different each other in many ways, Hiccup notes. The Brass Monkey Vikings were dressed in more extravagant common jewelry thanks to the metal deposits there whilst the Freezing to Death Vikings were lined head to toe in fur, albeit lesser than normal in the summertime.

"She looks pretty young to be a chieftain," Astrid whispers into Hiccup again regarding Brass Monkey's lady chief. She was notably more youthful than the other chiefs that were in their estimate forties by now.

"Dad told me the previous chief passed away about a year ago in the winter. She's the daughter of that guy," Hiccup explained.

"Interesting of you to know something about politics," Astrid remarked.

Hiccup shrugged. "My dad keeps telling me some going-ons now and then to keep me in the loop. Now that I'm set on course to take over one day, he reckons he'll bring me up to the task one step at a time."

"That's interesting, Hiccup, but do you mind talking about something that _won't_ put me to sleep?" Tuffnut's voice emerged so suddenly from behind the couple that they jumped just a little.

"Tuffnut! Gods, don't scare us like that!" Hiccup hissed through clenched teeth, Tuffnut still all-smiles.

"What? It was fun. Listen, we're playing I-spy over there, and Ruff wants you guys to join in. You game?"

Hiccup gave Astrid a look. _You wanna?_

She chewed on that thought. The leaders were talking about the harvests and she knew the following topics were going to be dryer than the earlier ones.

She nodded as Tuff's grin widened. "Awesome," he said, weaving his way through the other Vikings, Astrid and Hiccup not far behind.

It was a hop, skip and a jump across a table before they had to briefly climb one of the pillars, reaching Ruffnut, Fishlegs and Snotout as they perched themselves on one of the wider and stronger rafters. From this angle Astrid could see everyone in the Hall converging like this whirlpool to the eye of the maelstrom, where the leaders sat the ceremonious swords gleaming in gold-orange livery from the torches around..

"Nice of you to join us, lovebirds," Ruffnut sniggered in her gravelly voice as Hiccup turned pink, Astrid giving Ruff an interesting finger gesture. "We were just talking about who has the biggest helmet ornament here."

"My money's on Chief Boarfang. I mean, have you _seen_ bigger antlers?" Fishlegs said, gesturing to the deer antlers mounted on the helmet of Thuggery's dad. They were impressive, but Astrid figured they would be a liability in battle.

"I'm going for the one with the most _volume_, so my bet's on that one over there, right next to that green Nightmare," Tuffnut said, pointing at a female Viking whose helmet horns were large and spiraling inwards. Hiccup figured that it must have taken quite the load off the mountain goat it came from.

"Volume? Who cares about volume, Terror-brain? Everyone knows that size matters most," Ruffnut countered with an eye-roll.

"You're just saying that 'cause you wanna make Fishlegs look good, Gronkle-nose. No offense, 'Legs," Tuffnut drawled before Ruff pulled him into a very painful-looking headlock, Fishlegs turning the same shade of red as Ruffnut. Astrid let out a sigh of amusement as Hiccup tried to make out Tuff's muffled yelps of 'I am hurt, I am _very_ much hurt!

"You're both wrong," Snotlout said with a swat of his hand. "You wanna talk about _size_ and _volume?_ We should be talking about _boobs_." Hiccup face-palmed as Ruffnut and the now-released Tuffnut let out a silent but enthusiastic "Yeah!" while Fishlegs was nervously twiddling his fingers. "And asses!" Tuffnut added.

Hiccup was _so_ thankful that they were all the way up there where no one else could hear them. At least he had Astrid there to keep him company. And poor Fishlegs, literally trapped in the middle of the entire conversation. Astrid laid a hand on his shoulders and gave him a look that clearly encouraged him to have a little fun every now and then.

"I'm gonna say…Big-Boobied Bertha," they heard Tuffnut point out, Ruffnut scoffing. "Way to go and pick out the obvious one, idiot."

"Oh yeah? I don't see you doing any better," Tuff spit back. Both Astrid and Hiccup knew that half of any games like these were going to involve the twins' bickering no matter how much the others intervened.

"Fine. How 'bout that one?"

"That's not bigger than Bertha's!"

"I thought I made it clear to leave out the obvious one, troll-breath!"

"Says you, bride-of-Grendel!"

"H-How about that one?"

The bickering, and everyone on those rafters froze when they heard Fishlegs nervously pointing out to a woman from Freezing to Death who had a rather impressive cleavage. _Good eye…_Astrid nodded. The woman wasn't an easy one to spot.

"Good one, 'Legs! That's the spirit!" Snotlout said while nudging him on the shoulder. Tuffnut was nodding his approval and Astrid definitely did not miss the sly twinkle that Ruffnut gave the rotund lad.

"Oh, I've got a better one this time," Tuffnut said after a few seconds, so enthusiastic that Hiccup feared he'd fall right out of his seat.

"Tch, it better be," Ruffnut drawled.

"Over _there_," he grinned, pointing out to Big-Boobied Betha's direction. "Are you freakin' _retarded_ or something?" Ruffnut almost burst out. "We just said-"

"Not her, stupid. The girl near her. _There_," he said, fisting out again. Hiccup really couldn't find the person Tuffnut was indicating. The other Wild Women were rather impressive, yes, but they were not anywhere near close to Fishleg's earlier find.

"She's wearing red. With that blue fur thingy around her neck."

Hiccup's eyebrows shot straight up. The only girl to fit that description was no other than Camicazi. Now Hiccup reckons that she does have a healthy amount of…_those_ things, but they were _nowhere_ at all close to that other woman, or any of the other bigger, larger Bog women. Well, they _were_ slightly bigger than Astrid's (and no way in Hel was he going to disclose that information if he wanted to keep any of his appendages safe) but Astrid was still more proportionate with her better height.

"Are you kidding me? _Her_? She's one of the scrawniest ones out there!" Ruff growled. Clearly her faith in her brother's choices took a nosedive.

"But she's got the best boob-to-body ratio out there. And she's freakin' hot. I'd tap _that_ instead of Fishleg's choice. Again, no offense, dude," Tuffnut explained, 'Legs rolling his eyes.

Ruffnut was just about to hit her brother squarely on the head when Snotlout intervened. "He's right. She _is_ the best-looking one out there, boob-ratio and whatever. _Man_ she's fine. Where has she _been_ all my life?"

"Hiding from you," Tuffnut suggested, Snotlout reaching out to give him a swipe of his own, missing by a few inches. Astrid and Hiccup were trying to remain nonchalant about the whole thing whilst watching their friends ogle over Camicazi.

"Yeah I've never seen her around here before…" Fishlegs thought for a second. "There are a lot of new people around here, 'Legs. It's not a big surprise," Ruffnut said.

"But _man_ would I like to spend just one night with her," Tuffnut grinned as Ruffnut sighed sharply. _Boys_.

"More like 30 seconds would be enough," Snotlout said as Astrid, Ruffnut and even Hiccup tried their best not to burst out laughing, Tuffnut glaring daggers into the brunette Viking.

Hiccup decided that they needed to know sooner or later, and he's let them have their fun already.

"Would it change anything if I told you guys that she's Bertha's daughter? You know, _Camicazi_?"

Tuffnut, Fishlegs and Snotlout's jaws fell a few good inches as they looked like as if Hiccup told them another Green Death was waiting right outside the Hall's doors.

Ruffnut merely raised an eyebrow. Cami-who?

"Cami-_what _now!" Tuffnut hissed. Fishleg's face was slightly draining of further color as he cautiously held onto the belt of his tunic.

"Wait-wait-wait. Cami_cazi_. _The_ Camicazi? _The _same one who got us into so much trouble I was grounded for a _month_?" Snotlout asked, eyebrows furrowed together.

Astrid couldn't help but steal a glance as the girl in question as she lousily tried to suppress her yawn, Bertha not at all amused.

"Yes, _that_ Camicazi," Hiccup said.

"But…I thought she was-"

"Banished, yes, good that you remembered, Fishlegs," Hiccup cut off the slightly terrified boy before going into detail about what happened earlier.

It took them awhile to digest as Ruffnut still could not understand what the big brouhaha was over one girl. She _had _to know.

"So just who _is _this Cami-whatsaname, personally, anyway?"

"She's the most ruthless, quickest cunning she-devil on this side of the Meridian of Misery. You wouldn't know her 'cause you were too busy playing with Astrid when we were younger," Tuffnut said as if that were an insult. It would have sounded even more so if Astrid wasn't around.

"Wait, if she's so terrifying then _why_ haven't I at least _heard_ of her?"

"We were all around eight when she stopped coming. 'Guess we forgot all about her after that," Snotlout figured, scratching his chin.

"So she stole the Chief's underwear, big deal. I've heard of worse banishments than from stealing some smelly cotton shorts from an unlocked cabinet."

"She stole them _while_ he had them on, Ruff," Astrid added.

Ruffnut blinked. Twice.

"…Wow."

"I know, right?"

"So hold up, back to earlier, she's gonna be staying here, for the entire Gathering and the festival? The whole_ week_?" Snotlout was not taking this easy.

Hiccup and Astrid nodded as Tuffnut groaned. "Great. Guess I better nail down all my possessions to the floor. And now that she's old enough _who knows_ how many of us she's going to rape in our sleep," he muttered, Fishlegs letting out a faint squeak.

"Even Ruffnut and Astrid?" Snotlout asked incredulously.

"Not at the same time, surely," Tuffnut added.

Hiccup had to shake off even the smallest slivers of picturing all three blonde girls in a sweaty, panting tangled mess of limbs and _gahhhhhh_.

"Hiccup, you alright?" Astrid asked as he intensely scratched at his russet unruly hair.

"Gahh, I'm fine, no worries," he said with a goofy grin that was too fake for Astrid to accept. She did, however, choose to let it be. She _may_ be facing a lifetime of this, hopefully.

"So…" Fishlegs asked, breaking an awkward silence that Astrid did not notice was even there. 'All these things aside, are we still playing the game?"

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**So if you guys haven't yet noticed, this Gathering of the Clans is the first real significant arc that I'm undertaking for instead of sporadic one-shot-ish chapters. Wonder if you guys appreciate it, though…**

**So now that the anonymous reviews door has been opened, can I expect more people to share what they think? Again, really sorry to those who might have wanted to review but couldn't due to me being stoopid. **

**A. Kingsleigh: **A.A.C., eh? Well that's a new abbreviation that I'm all too happy to accept. Thanks! And you're welcome to not having a love triangle, as it would have seemed to cliché, I agree. =)

**Naruto Reincarnate: **Thanks there! It could have been better if I choreographed it a little better, IMO, but it's good that you found it fine. And thanks for the words of encouragement!

**Voldyne: **Thanks! =D

**4ever2010: **Did you read the books? All I had was the wiki for referencing, but it's cool that someone managed to find that out. And I wanted Thug to come in like this cool, cute guy that always seems so stable to stumble when the cute girl enters the picture. XD

**Romance and Musicals: **Well Hiccup's always been crushing over Astrid, right? So it would be sorta awkward if Cami suddenly came in and tugged at the heartstrings, right? Now that I think about it, Astrid would've been slightly more insecure than Hiccup because he's been in the one-sided business longer than she had, no?

**As a fellow HTTYD fanwriter says: Reviews are love, people!**


	9. Chapter 9

**It's nice to know that the rest of you have shared your sentiments on Cami and the chapters overall. I'm very relieved that you found the hilarity in the gang's antics. XD**

**My semester break will be ending soon, so…I'm not entirely sure for how much longer I can write so frequently. Here's hoping for the best…**

**And now, onwards to the following days of the Gathering: The Festivals. =)**

**As the Flower Misses the Sun**

"_Ye' want a reason? Fine. He's a __**Night Fury.**__ Fair enough for ye'?" _

**-A jury member on Hiccup's refused application for the dragon race.-**

Vikings were known for many things, their stubbornness issues notwithstanding. Their intimidating size, tenacious ferocity in battle and fierce loyalty to one another amongst them. But perhaps one of their most notorious traits were the fact that when Vikings partied, they partied hard.

The feast of the first night would be forever remembered as the night Stoick the Vast almost cried in public. From laughing. It was because it was also the night Gobber the Belch drunkenly sang several sagas to the crowd in nothing but his underwear.

"Look at the bright side," Snotlout mumbled as the group headed for the docks the morning after for the drakkar race. "At least _your _dad didn't decide to join Gobber on the third saga." Spitelout Jorgenson, in his drunken stupor also joined Gobber mid-chorus on the one of the last few sagas, although he had the good sense to keep all his articles of clothing on.

Hiccup shrugged his shoulders moodily, nonetheless. He was just turned down earlier for the newest addition to the competitions, the dragon race just because his dragon was the fastest one in existence. A measly factor that should have been glossed over, Hiccup humbly thought.

Even Astrid couldn't fully devote her time (as Hiccup secretly thought she should) to consoling him as she was preparing herself and Cloudbreaker for the race (even if it was hours away from now). She was absolutely excited about the race itself. Not only would she have her hand at breaking her own record at the annual axe-throwing competition tomorrow, but this race might be yet another feather in her cap (or headband). Astrid was nothing if not a healthy overachiever (1).

"Aww, cheer up, dude. It's not your fault your dragon's faster than that stupid Roman god they call _Mercury_ or something," Tuffnut chipped in. No, not really making him feel any better.

"Not helping, idiot," Ruffnut muttered, shoving her brother to the side roughly (pun not intended). At least Ruffnut's physical assault on her brother was of some help. Hiccup couldn't hit any of them without the rest thinking Ragnarok was upon them.

"If it's of any consolation, Hiccup, you would have creamed them with Toothless' +78 in agility. There would've be no competition," Fishlegs chirped in. It was a thorough judgment, Hiccup wagered. Fishlegs never lied when it came to statistics.

"Oh, no competition, eh?" Ruffnut asked rather haughtily to that, Tuffnut snickering at Fishlegs' indirect insult. The twins were in the race as well along with the others, sans the troubled Haddock.

Fishlegs stammered disastrously at Ruffnut's question, his cheeks reddening slowly into what resembled overly large tomatoes.

"W-well, I...what I meant was...uhh, I was trying..."

Everyone else could note Ruff's dangerous smirk as she enjoyed watching the Ingerson babbling over her. Hiccup took a second to consider if this was Ruffnut and Fishlegs' way of slowly coming into a relationship. If anything, it wasn't exactly subtle.

"Enough mumbling," Ruffnut cut Fishlegs straight off with a hand hovering by his face. She then turned around to briskly continue the walk ahead, intent on letting Fishlegs only seeing the back of her helmet. And her swaying hips. It was disturbing that she could be enjoying the stricken horror painted on the rotund boy's face.

Tuffnut placed an arm on Fishlegs' shoulder, his trademark conspiratorial smirk plastered on. "Don't sweat it, 'Legs. That's just her way of saying 'Put up with my crap for awhile more and I might bone you hard one of these days as a reward," he said with a disturbingly accurate imitation of his sister's gravelly drawl.

Fishlegs grimaced and avoided to look at anywhere but the tall blonde girl as Snotlout patted his back.

"That's what you get for picking the craziest girl in Berk to have a crush on," Snotlout said in mock disdain, Fishlegs' shoulders suddenly squaring. "I-I do _not_ have a crush on her!" he protested in all earnest, but keeping his tone low enough to not have Ruffnut in earshot.

"Right," Tuffnut scoffed. "And your Gronckle's a vegetarian."

The rest of the walk was filled with an awkward silence that almost never befell the group before. Ruffnut eventually slowed down to talk with her brother about the dragon race later while Fishlegs kept his lips pursed tight. Snotlout decided to engage his cousin in a discussion that felt completely one-sided, eventually dropping the entire plan soon after.

Tuffnut broke the collective silence when he rushed ahead of the group as they approached the cliff overseeing the docks. "Hey, c'mon! They're gonna start!" he yelled at them, the rest breaking off into a run. True enough, the various drakkars (one from each tribe) were lined up in an even line and awaiting the grand horn to sound off. "There's our dads!" Ruffnut exclaimed, pointing to the drakkar with the colors of Berk emblazoned on its sails. Spitelout Jorgenson, Ironspit Thornston and Gillgut Ingerman were several of Berk's best rowers and it didn't look like they would be retiring from that post any time soon.

Stoick, being the host chief, was standing by an enormous brass horn reminiscent of the ones by the Mead Hall, ready to give the signal for the race to begin. Hiccup could see several dragons in the air with Vikings perched on top, surely to get a bird's eye view of the race. *why didn't we think of that?* he thought to himself.

At that, he scowled at the thought of not bringing Toothless along after all. The black dragon, although resting nicely by the hearth at home would have wanted to experience the festivities. Dragons didn't like to remain cooped up when they weren't remarkably lazy.

"Hey, why so serious?(2)" Hiccup snapped back to reality after Tuffnut broke through his thoughts. He must have not relinquished scowl as of yet. "I know you don't want Freezing to Death to win again like they did for the past two years, but hey, take it easy."

"Speaking of which, how *did* they win for that two years? I mean, aren't they supposed to be all rigid and stiff from all that cold?" Snotlout interjected. Hiccup couldn't for the life of himself tell if Snotlout was being serious or trying his hand out at humor, but it caught Tuffnut's attention away from himself, so he couldn't complain, really.

Before Tuffnut could get a word out, the huge horn blasted through the air, the vibrations rattling the bones of the teens even from this distance. The dragons hovering around the sea were wobbling around in mid-flight, their riders stuck in a balancing of covering their ears and just holding on to their dragons.

But amidst all the audible chaos the drakkars began pushing forward through the ocean, oars violently churning the waters to foam as the captains bellowed the thunderous mantra of "STROKE! STROKE!" to keep the rowers in a uniform rhythm.

"Woohoo! Go Berk!" Ruffnut yelled as the other boys whooped in support of the drakkar trying to break the stalemate. Even Hiccup found himself joining in the cheering for Berk's pride. It had no relation whatsoever with the fact that his potential father-in-law, Arkin Hofferson was rowing alongside the other mighty oarsmen. No, not at all.

"You think Freezing to Death rigged their boat to go faster?" Fishlegs suddenly pointed out amidst the cheers, and it stopped immediately.

"You know what?" Tuffnut said first, scratching the bottom of his chin. "Maybe they did!"

"How do _you_ know that? Maybe they're just better," Snotlout challenged.

"Right. Tell that straight to your dad and mine's faces, why don't you?"

"Besides," Hiccup tried to add in edgeways. He needed a reason to not continually be moody in the most macho way possible. "How do they rig a row-boat to go faster?"

"They could've made it lighter," Fishlegs shrugged, his calculative gaze on the Freezing to Death drakkar so intense Hiccup feared it would have spontaneously combusted. Then Berk would be blamed of foul play.

"If they made the hull several centimeters thinner on all the wooden sides, they would be able to gain a +10 on acceleration with a -9 on drag. It doesn't sound like much but it should give them a good distance from the other ships."

And Hiccup resigned to the fact that he was the only one who could have understood most of it. Most.

The others must have shared that trail of thought as they shrugged, concentrating back on the race. They were more used to Fishlegs' spontaneous bits of info on a regular basis.

Amidst all the tightly-packed vessels, Freezing to Death's drakkar was leading by a slight advantage with Berk coming in with a close second. The other ships were in no way far behind and Hiccup knew that even one slip or an oarsman going out of rhythm would result in someone losing the lead. Or gaining it.

And he never remembered ever wishing more feverently for some random Freezing to Death person to gain a hand cramp. But he reckoned that animosity for a foreign tribe wasn't exactly wise when this whole gathering was centralized on general _peace_ between them all, with some healthy competition to boot.

"C'mon! Stroke harder!" Snotlout cried out, regardless of the fact that when taken out of context, that sentence sounded _very_ wrong to Hiccup. He was a healthy 16 year-old, after all. Even the slightest things can be perversely related one way or another.

And as the ships still remained in their seemingly stationary positions even as they surged through the waters, one of such ships seemed to slowly but surely make its way to overtake one dragon figurehead with another.

Berk were breaking into first place.

"That's the way! C'mon!" Tuffnut yelled, punching fistfuls into the air, practically oozing as much charisma from his every pore. Ruffnut let out a high-pitched holler that Hiccup had no intention to imitate. Even Fishlegs was giddily whooping along.

And that was when the cheering ceased on Hiccup's part. The reality hit him that if Astrid were there, cheering just as loud and as jovially, he would have no problems joining in. Right now, if he were to do that, even with the others already accepting him into their fold, he would feel so painfully out of place. Almost 10 years of estrangement and alienation didn't just heal over the course of a few months. The melancholy from not being able to get in the dragon race and the absence of Astrid hitting him squarely in the gut didn't help any.

But just so as much as his body was telling him to not be a total kill-joy and just cheer on for the heck of it, Hiccup's mind refused to deliver the order. The others were not paying any heed to his sudden inaction, so why should he care? He was just slinking back to being invisible anyway.

It was anticlimactic, sure. Awkward, definitely. But like some self-deprecating drug, Hiccup couldn't refuse indulging himself it. Still, he kept a wary eye on the still-leading Berk ship, and from their height they could see the finish line, the ships barely halfway there. Hiccup did not envy the oarsmen, that's for sure.

"Damn, that's a long stretch. Think they'll make it?" Tuffnut asked to no one in general. And as expected, Fishlegs took the initiative.

"If they keep the drakkar at this constant speed and acceleration, they should have a 65% chance of winning provided the winds maintain their +5 boost in speed," he said in one breath.

"All I heard were 'speed' and 'winning', so…that's a good thing, right?" Snotlout asked. "Heck yeah!" Ruffnut cheered as she continued to watch the ships race on. "Go Dad!"

Not a second after, Freezing to Death's ship was inching closer and closer to the lead with the Bog Buglars closing in. That was the thing about leading in a race. Sometimes upsets just happened.

"Oh for the love of Thor, gimme a break, man! Can't you let Berk win this once?" Tuffnut cried out with his hands to the skies, as if the embodiment of lightning and victories himself would pick favorites in a _race_, of all things.

"Let things take their course instead of praying for the gods to do something, gnome-brains," Ruffnut grumbled, forcing her brother to stop flailing his arms like a madman. "Besides, look, we're catching up with them."

True enough, Berk's dragon figurehead was poking out amongst the garbled mess of racing ships to surpass that of Freezing to Death's. As long as the figurehead reaches the finish line first, they would win the race.

"Just hope the oars don't tangle up like they said it did last year…" Snotlout muttered regarding an incident last year when the Meathead clan was hosting, involving Berk, Brass Monkey and Hopeless's oars clashing amongst one another's, resulting in a three-way tangle up that left them biting the dust –or sea foam, in this case.

In Hiccup's inner morbid episode, he grumpily half-wished the ships _would_ tangle up by the oars. At least _that_ would shut the others up. Realizing what he was thinking, Hiccup slapped his own forehead. How _could_ he be so stupid to want that to happen? _Right, because I'm not in the best of moods, remember?_

Deep down he knew it was stupid, but the inner six year-old who wants to throw a tantrum for not having his way was really winning some votes in Hiccup's head.

"I really think they've got a chance here!" Fishlegs excitedly exclaimed as Hiccup spared one glace upwards. The struggling fleets of ships were edging closer to the finish line by the second and Berk were going head-to-head with 'Death. The gang knew the oarsmen were beyond tired and fatigued by now, but none of them were willing to give in just yet. The stubbornness issues did have their quirks.

"Come on, come on, c'mon!" Snotlout and Tuffnut were threatening to fall off the cliffs from sheer amount of enthusiasm alone. On Ruffnut's orders, Fishlegs was busy clenching a fistful of the boys' fur jackets, just in case.

They were this close to the finish now, Berk exchanging positions with 'Death with such frequency that none of the gang could not really tell who was leading. And then every ship barreled their way through the line, the crowd below that did not look unlike ants to the gang from this angle erupting into celebration.

"Who won?" asked Tuffnut, who decided to climb atop Fishlegs as if it would have given him a better view, ignoring the rotund boy's protests that _it would not help_. The tension and noise in the air was so thick that it could have been cut and kept for tomorrow's toast. And who could blame them? There was no clear victor and it was these situations of sudden death that did not sit well with the teen Vikings.

"Wait, they're waving the victor's flags," Hiccup decided to chip in an effort to stop the miniature pandemonium behind his back. The celebratory flags that flew were hard to make out but he could recognize the brilliant shade of scarlet and the coat of arms…

"We won! Berk won!" Snotlout jumped several feet in the air as everyone else whooped and hollered, Hiccup almost regretting the even bigger pandemonium that took the earlier one's place. He really wished that Astrid was here to join in the celebration instead of training with Breaker for that _stupid _race. Nothing brought him more joy than seeing Astrid's face practically glow whenever she smiled, and he needed it so much now like winter hearths needed firewood.

And as if the gods themselves were hearing his innermost plea (take that, Tuffnut) a brilliant blue and yellow Nadder perched up besides Hiccup, its rider beaming ahead at the ships that were now docking again. Hiccup would never grow tired of watching the way the sun shone on her own sun-colored hair to an almost white-hot sheen, her intense blue eyes inviting him to just lose himself in them.

"Astrid," he weakly breathed. She regarded him with the same beaming pride she was giving to the ships. "I can't believe we won!" she cheerily said to him before looking at the rest. "We were _this_ _close_ to losing to Freezing to Death! But we pulled through at the last second like _that_," Astrid went into explaining, showing how Berk's ship spearheaded its way over the rival ship just mere meters away from the line.

"You just flew in from there?" Ruffnut asked, pointing a thumb at the docks.

"Yup. Didn't think you guys saw me as you were jumping for joy like idiots," Astrid lightheartedly scoffed. Hiccup sniffed. What, Astrid didn't notice him moping around? Or was she carefully glossing over that?

"Who cares? We won for the first time since the year of Thor!" Tuffnut whooped, swinging his fist in the air. His pride for his father's participation must have only added to his pride for Berk's win.

"Here's hoping for another one next year," Fishlegs added in weakly. "Damn right, 'Legs!" Tuffnut said as he and Snotlout wrapped their arms around his neck (which was no mean feat due to the large boy's height) and they made their way to the town square. Astrid got off Breaker and told her to head on home first which the Nadder did, the blonde girl then joining her taller counterpart as Hiccup trudged behind.

It didn't take long for Astrid to notice something was amiss even as the boys were going on like nothing happened.

"Okay, what's wrong with Hiccup?" Astrid asked Ruffnut, the other girl rolling her eyes. The Thornston twin could see the conviction in Astrid's eyes, and she did not like it one bit, especially when she had nothing to do with it. This time.

"Hey, he's been Mr. Grumpy-shorts since earlier. We had nothing to do with it," Ruffnut said whilst shaking her head, Astrid chewing over that thought. Ruffnut had no trouble lying straight to Astrid's face but the exasperation in her tone was as genuine as she could tell. She just hoped that she was right.

"You sure?"

Ruffnut blinked. "Is the great Astrid Hofferson in _doubt_?"

Astrid responded kindly with a slug to the Thornston's arm, the taller, lankier girl shrugging off the blow. It lacked the usual ferocity that the girls had no problem in lashing out to one another.

"I'm sure. We've been nice to him and all. I'll bet he's just still miffed about not being able to participate in the race later."

Astrid took a second to understand. What race?

Then it hit her. "You mean the dragon race later? He told me he was fine with it before I left."

"Correction: He _told_ you he was fine with it. _You _were too excited about it when you took off that you didn't see whether he was lying to you or not. You always _did_ tell me you could read him like a book," Ruffnut said with mock admonition, Astrid avoiding eye contact with the other girl.

"And if you so much as tell another soul about what I said…" Astrid began dangerously when she mustered enough thick-skinned courage to look Ruffnut in the face, the other girl already lifting her hands in a casual display of surrender. "I know, I know. You'll pull out my hair and kick me in the gut and _then_ you'll bring the hurt. I'm hurt you have that little faith in me, Ast'."

"Shut up," Astrid growled as they continued walking on their own pace to the village square, trying her level best to not steal even a glance behind. "You think I should talk to him about it?"

"You're asking _me_ about boys? What in Odin's name possessed you to think that-?"

"Because _you've_ been stuck with a twin brother since birth and last I checked, he's a boy, isn't he?"

Ruffnut raised a thin, graceful eyebrow at Astrid's choice of words. "You know, if I took what you said out of context…" She didn't push that matter further when Astrid snarled.

"Fine, fine. But you _do_ remember that Hiccup and my idiot of a brother are almost two different creatures, right?" Ruffnut challenged, and Astrid had to relent. "Now _Fishlegs_, on the other hand…he's just the fun-nest thing to tease and tickle till he turns as red as a tomato."

Astrid chose to leave Ruffnut be with that evil grin of hers and she made her way with slow but confident strides to Hiccup. No point stomping your way over and scaring him half-to-death before even the first word comes out.

He notices her first and he almost freezes on the spot. Still the same Hiccup.

"A-Astrid?" he asked as the dread in his face grew just that little more with every step Astrid took without an answer. "Is there something wrong?"

"Hiccup," Astrid began, trying not to sound _too_ stern. There was just so much tough love you could give the boy.

"We need to talk."

)()()()()()()()()()()()()()()(

"You're breaking up with me?"

Hiccup didn't even realize the words came out of his mouth, disbelieving as it sounded. Sure, she hadn't said those words _exactly_ herself, but he knew for a fact that whenever a girl says 'we need to talk', it was Splits-ville in sight.

But it was the irritation that grew on her face a second later and a very hard shove to his shoulders that caught him off-guard.

"Who the _Hel_ said I was breaking up with you?"

She was annoyed. No, she was more than annoyed. She was beyond annoyed with a handful of anger and just a pinch of murder in her eyes for seasoning.

"Because whenever the girl says 'we need to talk' it usually means something's wrong, and I'm not good enough or 'it's not you, it's me' and we _all_ know there's no way you'd do anything wrong 'cause you'reperfect to me and I…"

Astrid had her arms crossed at this point as he continued rambling his reasons out. Usually she would have cut him short and saved him from wasting his breath but the strong desire to humor him and to let him vent out a little did no harm.

"You done?" she asked when He finally trailed to a finish.

"Yes," he weakly replied. Surely by now he knew he was wrong about her wanting to break up with him.

"Then let me make one thing clear," she said as she closed the distance between him again. He could see her arms rise up and he shut his eyes and stiffened his entire body, waiting for the blow to come.

Instead, two gentle palms cupped his cheeks and he dared to open his eyelids, looking into Astrid's sliver-blue eyes, and he was lost in their trance.

"I love you, Hiccup. Get that into your brain. I. Love. You," she said, and crashed her lips firmly onto his to prove her point.

And he could find no reason not to believe her. He chided himself for an uncountable amount of times. How could he even _doubt_ her feelings for him? How could he just jump to conclusions at the slightest hair-trigger?

They broke for air mere seconds later, but Hiccup had not had his fill just yet. His longing for Astrid's lips just grew tenfold and she was just right there. How could he not claim them when they were mere millimeters apart?

"You can be so stupid sometimes, you know?" she said.

He flashed her that lopsided smile that was both infuriating and disarming at the same time, and she couldn't even attempt to berate him any longer.

"Sorry," he meekly replied with a shrug, that grin turning into the same one a four year-old would give if he was caught red-handed stealing sweetbread from the pantry. She had her brothers to credit for in-depth knowledge on that.

"So…back to normal yet?" she asked, trying to put the past couple of minutes behind her now that Hiccup is smiling again. And in her humble opinion, not a day should go by where he doesn't flash her that silly grin. That silly sweet grin that should only be meant for her.

"Well, as far as normal can be for _me_," he joked as she lightly punched him in the arm.

"Alright, now hands off. The race starts soon and I don't want the others to think we left them to go make out or something," she said. Hiccup surprisingly did not let go and she was having quite a tough time breaking his grip.

Questioningly, she looked straight to see a different grin plastered on his face. It was a new, dangerous, seductive smirk where his eyes are half-closed and the forest-green orbs are darkening slowly, only one edge of his lips tugging subtly upwards as they were closed shut. It was the lopsided grin again, only a billion times sexier.

She couldn't even gasp out his name as her voice suddenly caught itself in her throat. "You know," he broke the silence for her in a strange, husky voice that was entirely Hiccup and _not_ Hiccup at the same time. "What if I _want_ them to think we went off to make out or something?"

_Oh gods_.

"Wha-?" was all she could breathe out before Hiccup claimed her lips hungrily. It was new, different, a ferocity never before shown by Hiccup and she welcomed it with equal parts of worry and giddy excitement. But she could never allow herself to be lead in this dance for long, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss on her own, not resorting to tongues just yet, not while she has his lower lip firmly pinched between hers.

Her head was spinning so much that she could almost feel like she was moving and turning about on the same spot.

Wait, she _was_ moving on the spot.

Before she knew it, her back was firmly pressed against the smooth surface of one of the many boulders there.

"They'll come looking for us," she weakly reasoned when a large portion of her mind wishfully hoped against it.

"They can wait for ten minutes or so," he said noncommittally before treading light kisses on the smooth skin of her neck.

"Just ten?"

"More or less. Now will you just let me fuss over you?" he asked, earning a curt nod from her before he tugged at her tunic, tentatively exposing more milky skin. The kisses he peppered over her left shoulder blades left her squirming and she responded by wrapping one of her legs over his own, locking his thigh onto hers.

"Mmm, don't stop," she whispered, Hiccup all to glad to obey that order. He tugged the collar of her tunic southwards instead, exposing the beginning of her cleavage. His lips agonizingly made their way slowly from the shoulder to the newly exposed bit of skin, the cool windy air leaving such a wonderful contrast against his hot kisses.

"Oh gods, Hiccup," she groaned as he daringly kissed the gap of her cleavage, her fingers digging into his hair. His other hand snuck behind the bottom of her tunic, snaking a hand smoothly up her back. She arched forward as her head shot backwards ever so little, Hiccup absolutely loving how this show off just how lithe and athletically sexy her body is.

He shifted his kisses over to her bare, toned stomach as he lifted her tunic with both hands. The delicious paradox that was his calloused, yet delicate hands holding her entirety in between them could only come from a blacksmith's touch. He nuzzled his face against the warm alabaster skin of her torso before kissing every rise and bump of her sinewy muscles.

Astrid let out a sultry gasp of release as his pinprick administrations centered on the core of her body, so agonizingly neither here-nor-there. He refused to touch or kiss anywhere near her breasts and the spot he dubbed as her '_special spot'_ as she had never given her _approval_, and she found that so sweet and yet so exasperating at the same time. He was such a sweet guy to a fault.

But to think of it, she herself couldn't complain, though. This spot wasn't exactly the best place to be anywhere near partial nudity, even if his kisses are the best guilty pleasures ever.

He slowly dragged his hands to her ass where he couldn't help but give them a firm squeeze (she thanked Odin that at least he took initiative on that part of her body) before he tugged her leggings down a little.

She looked at him questioningly before Hiccup started kissing her soft, creamy thighs, eliciting a squeal from the girl. She jolted slightly upwards when his teeth gently grazed her skin, his tongue prodding at her skin, leaving damp traces as they went.

She can't help but get excited at how close his face was to her…_special spot_ (stupid Hiccup…) and all she needed to do was hike her skirt up, push her linen panties slightly to the side and…wait, would Hiccup even _want_ to put his mouth there?

It terrified her and at the same time, there was no greater turn-on at the thought of Hiccup's _very _talented tongue working its magic inside her most sacred virtue.

But no, not in public, not like this.

"Hiccup," she said, lovingly stroking his hair.

"Mmm?" he mumbled through his feverently increasing licking. _Oh gods, the licking…_

"I think that's enough," she struggled, trying so hard not to cry out just how good this all felt. There was still an off chance that someone was still around that area, even if Hiccup positioned himself and Astrid away from the main road, the boulder their only shield from prying eyes.

"I don't know how much more I can take before I have to…"

At that Hiccup paused instantaneously. Did Astrid just insinuate that she was going to –what?-…go over the edge?

"Right," he said, rolling her leggings back up. He tried to steady his breathing whilst attempting to quell the blood flow that was concentrated on one _certain_ area, Astrid wiping the several beads of sweat that ran down her forehead. He gingerly placed her tunic back to decent length and straightened out any folds and crumples that didn't look right, all the while wistfully wishing that he was _undressing_ her instead of the doing the polar opposite. Her breathing was taking longer to come back to normal than his and he noted her husky, oral breathing as her limps fell limply to her sides. The only thing still holding her up was Hiccup as his hands gripped gently at her sides.

Internally, some part of Astrid internally berated herself for allowing the wild throbbing of her loins to die down before she could reach the blissful peak, but she had to force herself to think about the smartest thing to do.

Somehow, Hiccup understood why she was scowling out of a sudden and his pride swelled up a few notches. Astrid _had_ to stop what they were doing because she was close to losing control of herself. And why should he be denying her of such a pleasurable and wonderful experience, Hiccup wondered with a sly smirk.

"You know, I could help _take_ _care_ of your problem," he suggested with a soft whisper into her ear, and Astrid's heart almost leapt from her throat.

_Shit, he knows_.

"D-Don't be ridiculous," she growled, giving him a shove that was far too weak to be from Astrid. He did see the edges of her lips tug upwards, and he found relief in that. _At lease she knew I was joking around._

She had half the mind to counter his banter along the lines of 'If you wouldn't be so _noble _all the time, you would be able to _help take care of my problem,_' but ultimately she decided against it. What kind of boy would restrain himself from going any further than his own self-imposed boundaries when the girl is already all hot and bothered?

That's right, _her_ boy. He loved her and better yet, he _respected _her. Even this far into their relationship he dared not do anything without her say-so, and she found mutual respect in that as well.

"But-" Astrid said as she wrapped her arms around his neck again, locking silver-blue eyes with deep green ones.

"-maybe one of these days-" she continued, one of her hands then hovering dangerously on the base of his pants. She could practically _feel_ him catching his breath.

"-we can get a _hands-on_ approach-" she crooned, slipping her thumb into his waistband, the boy taking in a ragged, sharp intake of breath, but remaining frozen on the spot with his hands wrapped around the small of her back.

"-on _taking care_ of each other's…_problems_?"

It was the hint of hopefulness in her tone at the end that made Hiccup gulp hard. Did she just suggest that they take things to a further level?

But too soon later, she removed her thumb from his pants and gave him a peck on the nose. "You're drooling, Hiccup," she said, suppressing a laugh.

He gingerly brought a sleeve to his lips to wipe off whatever repulsive trails of saliva he might have showed to Astrid as she brushed several stray bangs from his ever-growing fringe.

"Y-You're serious?" he dared to ask. Astrid's offer was too good to be true, but he _had_ to make sure, even if it means a slug to whichever body part she wants or her completely taking back the offer.

She did neither.

"Yes, I am. But nothing too daring before we get some kind of contract done between our parents," she warned him, but Hiccup was once again too high on cloud nine to feel the necessary fear. She mentioned a contract. That means she sees marriage as something entirely possible in the future, right?

And _then_ it got him thinking about a marriage to Astrid. And he could find no fault in that. Spending everyday with her instead of meeting at appointed times. Both of them sharing a home, a dining table, a couch, a bed…Toothless, would have to make do with Breaker moving in, which wasn't a problem. Both dragons were okay with one another. Maybe he would extend the house for them? Or they'll build their own? Then they would need to have kids, and Hiccup _liked_ the idea of having kids, especially the _process_ of making them. Which led him back to their future bed…

"Hiccup? Hiccup? ...I lost you at _contract, _didn't I?"

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**Woohoo, more reviews than the previous one, and honest opinions to boot! Don't stop now, folks! =) **

**Naruto Reincarnate: **Yup, I mention all my reviewers. You all get equal parts of love from me. =)

**Fictionfreak: **So sorry to keep you guys out of the loop for so long. =( And it's good to know that you've stuck with this fic since the beginning. It means a lot to have you sum it up, really. =) Are there more fics out there about Cami and Astrid bickering over Hiccup? So far I haven't found one, though...

**A. Kingsleigh: **Glad that you're fine with the arc. As for Cami causing some havoc for the others, well I'd expect things to go awry with the way Tuff and Lout often react, right? =) Gives me some great ideas too, thanks!

**Givinglight: **What an aptly selected name, 'cause that's exactly what you did! =) Glad to know that my humor works for you. =D I hope this dose of lemony fluff will suffice for now?

**goodguywithanevilmind: **Thanks! Well I think the other tribes wouldn't really bother, 'cause hey, kids will be kids, right? =) Just hope the other tribes don't know _exactly_ what's the topic in discussion, right? ;)

**Lady Bronte: **Thank you so much! I tend to forget that the gang is mostly about being fun, fresh and silly instead of the more mature tones I gave them in the earlier chapters, right? And as for Hiccup, *snicker* I do remember how I was when I was 16, so when the first opportunity of imagining 3 pretty gals in a hot mess jumps into mind, who wouldn't want to indulge in said fantasy, eh? ;)

**Voldyne: **Hehe, well, I agree, an interesting image indeed. ** Well I would say it was more of a discussion between them, 'cause they are good old friends, but either way, glad you liked it. =)

**Psycho Kitty Alchemist: **Well it's good that you're honest about it, which makes your review especially valuable 'cause it tells me I did something right by you this time around in chapter 8, and just pushes me to make something more to this range when it comes to involving Tuff, Ruff, 'Lout and 'Legs. Well yeah, I'd imagine the initial 3 to be dirty-minded for their age with Fishlegs being the nervous conservative one. His voice actor tells me as much when I watched the 'The Making Of.' As for Hiccup, well I'd imagine that as any normal 16 year-old would he couldn't help but conjure up his own little fantasy, y'know, hormones and all ;). Glad I could make you laugh with this one! Thanks again, and hoping to hear more from you! =)

**Romance and Musicals: **That's what I think too, since she's the epitome of the perfect Viking girl and she's just perfect for Hiccup. I'd like to explore more on Stoick and Astrid when I can. =) And yes, it's about time that he had a better understanding about his boy now that the relationship between them has improved. You could tell from his discussion with Gobber early in the movie that he wants to make the connection with his son, he really does. And for the naughty thoughts, hehe, glad so many of you are sharing snickers and giggles with me on that bit. XDD

**DarkArk: **Well it's refreshing to have Hiccup in a pervy perspective, no? XD

**4ever2010: **Well it's good to have someone who has a good grasp on the books here. Source material is simply the best, right? =) And as for Thuggery, ooh, do I sense a crush here? ;) And Hiccup's nasty side, let's see how he puts it to practical use, eh? XDDD

**Kittehz: **It's alright, you made your mark for chapter 8's review, so no harm no foul. =) Thanks, I tried to put it as humorously as possible when they found out it's Cami, 'cause she's such a huge troublemaker in the books. =) Her notoriety should precede her wherever she goes. And cookies, yay! Nom nom nom. XD


	10. Chapter 10

**My gosh, it's been months, really, and I'm so sorry for dragging on for so long, but I really, **_**really**_** did not have the time nor the energy to flesh out this chapter earlier. **

**So here it is; the big race. Hope you enjoy it! =)**

**A Blur**

"_Funny thing is, a few months ago I'd call ye bloomin' mad if ye told me we'd  
be holdin' a dragon race, of all things." _

**-Stoick the Vast to Gobber the Belch, moments before  
officiating the first ever dragon race.-**

There was something to flying amongst the skies that Astrid never found herself getting bored of.

Even sailing had its repetition when the tides were merciful (stormy waters gave a little kick to that but she wasn't looking forward to those). But it was the sheer thrill of soaring above land, once a feat that was only limited to the privileged few that the Valkyries would carry across Bifrost to Valhalla.

And there was this perk about it. Just like taking the journey on her own two feet or across the waters, competition could be made out this transportation.

And Breaker was just as much into it as Astrid was to win it. Neither of them were quitters, and they were both intent in letting the other racers aware of that.

The second the large horn went off (causing a little instability amongst the dragons on their lift-off) Astrid and Breaker broke out amongst the rut. The first leg of the race over the waters of Berk meant that it would be a straight sprint, perfect for the both of them. And just when she thought the trophy was that much closer to her grasp, a certain golden blur shot out past her in mere seconds. She wouldn't have any of that.

Although Hiccup and Toothless were not allowed to participate, no one said anything about Camicazi and her Mood Dragon, Stormfly, partly because her dragon was just so unique that no one knew just how fast she could go.

Surely now they knew.

"Odin's saggy left-!" the disembodied voice of Snotlout yelped from somewhere behind Astrid. "Did you see how fast she went?"

"Duh, troll-brain. She just passed *all* of us," Ruffnut drawled as the twins' Zippleback overtook Snotlout and Firelout.

"I estimate the Mood Dragon has a plus twelve in speed. We're, at best, five points behind!" Fishlegs yelped as Rolling Thunder drew level with Snotlout too, much to the brunette's chagrin. Why was everyone passing him?

Astrid wouldn't have her fate in the race decided on some numbers though. The blonde shield maiden gestured Breaker to gain speed, intent on catching up to Camicazi.

Said Bog Burglar was almost only a golden speck in the distance but Breaker, on her own steam, growled fiercely before letting out a burst of speed that almost blew Astrid right off.

"Whoah, Breaker! Slow down!"

She didn't even know *why* she said that.

The Nadder found it necessary to ignore the complaining girl. It wasn't her fault humans weren't built to fully sustain the speeds dragons could achieve. And the dragon they called Stormfly was beginning to be a real bother.

The Golden One has proven itself to be not only unique and more elegant(something Breaker generously acknowledged), but faster too. She had enough time as it is tolerating the Night Fury. She did *not* need another mountain to claw over.

So the Nadder humbly thought the Mood Dragon needed to eat her wing dust.

"We're gaining! Atta girl!" Astrid excitedly whooped. Breaker understood the need for humans to belt out cries of encouragement but predatorial-wise, her rider was being surprisingly daft. Wasn't absolute silence needed when approaching a prey?

Lucky as they were, neither Camicazi nor Stormfly seemed to hear them coming. Astrid had it pointed to Camicazi just being too arrogant to think there would be a close second, but she was prepared for otherwise.

"Come up close from under them. We'll bust our way from under and take 'em on by surprise," Astrid said, Breaker nodding silently. The Nadder motioned herself to fly close to the Golden One's tail, matching their wing beats.

The heavy salt in the air and the strong oncoming wind meant the Mood Dragon couldn't really sense the Nadder, and Breaker scoffed internally. Was the Golden One so haughty at her lead that she forsaken her basic instincts?

"We'll catch them at the turn," Astrid almost hissed her whisper to Breaker, indicating at a group of offshore rocks that marked the first leg of the race. They would have to bank to the right and proceed over the dense forests of Berk.

And that was where Astrid would pull off a stunt she knew any of the boys (and Ruffnut) would approve of.

"Slowly..." She urged the Nadder as they inched their way closer to the leading duo, Breaker's wing beats still matching with Stormfly's even at this distance, much to Astrid's pride.

Without any further words needing to be conveyed, Astrid and Breaker began to slow down as Camicazi and Stormfly edged closer to the rocks. Astrid anticipated the Bog Burglar to thoroughly pass by the rocks before making the turn, but the Hofferson lass knew these waters better and would just make the turn now and beat Camicazi to the path.

And with that they banked hard to their directional north-east and Breaker broke into a sprint, not caring for all the juicy, cold cod in Berk about matching wing flaps anymore. By now Camicazi and her golden dragon must have noticed the blur of yellow and blue zip past them and Breaker couldn't help but wonder; what color did Mood Dragons take when they got the dragon's equivalent to a slap on the face?

"Just keep going, girl. We'll lose them in the path," Astrid said. The short amount of seascape beneath them began to ebb into the dark grey rocks of the cliff sides as the approached on of the denser jungles of Berk. There was a very distinct clearing amongst the canopies as earlier this morning several riders aboard Timberjacks carved out a winding, tricky path for the racers to weave through. Astrid could see several dragons with riders in tow hovering over the canopies, referees to make sure no one cheated by just blatantly flying over the path.

"Ready girl?" Astrid asked, Breaker giving a hard nod. "Then let's do this."

With that Breaker descended into the path, both rider and dragon not caring how close Camicazi and Stormfly could have been.

The path itself was generously wide, Astrid discovering Breaker had more than enough room for her to fully spread her wings. In fact, there was enough room, she daresay, for two dragons to go head-to-head, although she wouldn't welcome such a prospect.

The sun-drenched brown of the ground below served as a waypoint for Astrid to more or less navigate their way through the path without really compromising on speed. There were several sharp turns that almost got them off-guard, though, but Breaker's flighty build and powerful wings allowed her to stop more abruptly and make tighter turns that she knew Firelout or any other Nightmare, with their larger mass and looser wings would have had trouble with. They, however, knew they needed to put more distance between themselves and Camicazi.

"C'mon, no time to get complacent!" Astrid cried as Breaker sped forward even faster, still wary of the ever-present twist and turns about this path.

After awhile, Astrid felt the slightest bit of dread creeping up her as she found herself slowly beginning to lose track of what's in front of her, due to the ever-increasing speed Breaker was maintaining and the hair-pin turns and sharp corners that they seemed to come across every time Astrid blinked.

Astrid was used to the abrupt turns, twists, banks and turn-tails that became prerequisite with riding a dragon, but this was beginning to make her dizzy and nauseous. She was trying her level best to keep her eyes open, the forest being nothing more than a flurry of green and brown blurs.

"Just a little more, girl, then we're outta this," she found herself saying, and not entirely sure whether it was directed more to Breaker or herself. The Deadly Nadder let out a squawk that Astrid very well knew was a gesture of reassurance, and held tighter around the dragon's scaly neck as she closed her eyes shut. The urge to throw up was beginning to get the better of her.

It wasn't too long before the sharp turns stopped and Astrid waited for a good three seconds before leaning back on her saddle, daring to finally open her eyes. Instead of the walls of green that surrounded her peripheral vision, she was greeted with large open splashes of blues and lighter shades of green. They were in the wild grasslands near the southern side of Berk, the large, clear sky and lush grass an awkward but welcome respite to the harrowing forest. Picturesque as it was, both dragon and rider were still committed to the race, so Astrid coaxed Breaker once more to push forward harder, the Viking lass making a mental note to try and find this area again at a later time.

"Pretty nice scenery, isn't it?" boomed a voice from behind Astrid, one she was not really expecting to hear.

"Eirik?"

Astrid was pretty sure she did not see her second eldest brother amongst the other racers during the starting line-up, and her suspicions immediately kicked in that he must have snuck his way in somehow between checkpoints, hard enough as such a feat was.

"Easy, 'Striddy. Me and Rolfie started in this race the same way you did. No tricks, honest," he said, hands up in mock surrender, his green Nadder trying to keep its rider aloft safely.

"Whatever," Astrid growled, not missing out that Breaker was picking up their speed subtly. _Atta girl_. And then it hit her.

"Did you pass by a gold dragon and her rider on your way here?" she asked, Eirik raising an eyebrow.

"Gold? They come in _gold_ these days? Wow,'" he mused, scratching his short blonde hair. Astrid resisted the urge to slap her own forehead and instead just let out a sharp breath of air.

"I did fly by this cutie arguing with a purple dragon, though. Not a breed I've seen before, I'll say that."

Wait. Purple?

And for the second time today, a golden blur zoomed by Astrid and her brother, causing Breaker and Doombeak squawking out in little fits of panic. "What in the-?" Eirik swore midway.

"That's her!" Astrd cried, Breaker getting the cue to increase her speed ever much more as Camicazi and Stormfly began to shrink further into the distance, Eirik hollered in defiance.

"How could _that_ be possible? That dragon was purple, I swear!"

"It can change colors!" Astrid yelled back, uncaring as to how she was leaving her brother in the dust. All that mattered now was catching up to Camicazi, and she was losing ground with every second.

Through the earlier briefing before the race, Astrid could reckon they were more or less halfway done with the race. The brief open space they were currently in was only a prelude to the next dire set of obstacles: The uneven and unpredictable ocean rocks edging the southwestern end. Hiccup once told her that both he and Toothless had a very unfriendly encounter with those rocks during their maiden test-flight.

"Think you can catch up, '_Striddy_?"

Camicazi was positively grinning from ear to ear, all the while bent over as Stormfly did nothing to compromise on speed.

Astrid understood that the blonde Bog Buglar loved to taunt others while in the midst of battle to rile up her opponents and make no mistake, Astrid knew how to deal with mind games like these. But it was that incessant _nickname_, one she really did not enjoy hearing from her brothers but otherwise tolerated, and here was this pint-sized munchkin (low blow, certainly…) using it too? Wait, how long could she have been eavesdropping?

"Let's blow her off this gods-damn race, Breaker. Hyah!" Astrid said as she clicked her heels at Cloudbreaker's sides. The Nadder gained that much momentum and speed that Astrid could see Camicazi coming closer with every wing and heart beat.

"That's my girl. C'mon, faster, faster!" she cried as they began to approach a sharp turn, their line of sight blocked by a mountain wall. "Not this time!" she heard Camicazi say as Astrid could hear the very air shift around them. Her entire lower vision was changed to a large splash of gold as Stormfly flew by from beneath them, cutting them short on the turn.

"Odin's great ghost!" Astrid cried out as Camicazi shot past, the blonde Buglar shaking an index finger. "Language, 'Striddy! Don't think the big guy up there can't hear you!"

_Oh, that girl is _so _dead when I'm through with her._

Camicazi and Stormfly banked hard to the left to avoid the layers upon layers of sea rocks, but Astrid knew it meant they would have to take a slightly lengthier route around said rocks. And the time difference of even a few seconds would work to Astrid's favor.

"Let's go _through_ it, girl." Astrid suggested as the first opening amongst the rocks appeared. If Breaker had any doubts to the plan, she'd better voice/squawk them out now. But no such thing came, Breaker lowering her neck and shortening her wingspan slightly, all to increase her mobility. This was not going to be a mean feat, but Breaker could see her rider so elated with the prospect of winning, and she needed to show the Golden One who was boss here.

Astrid gripped the leather straps of her saddle so tight that she could have sworn her knuckles at turned chalk-white, praying hard to Odin, Thor and whoever else listening that the force that Breaker was using for these great turns wouldn't fling her off her own saddle, regardless of the sturdy safety strap currently latched firmly to her flight vest. Hiccup had adamantly insisted she wore them for this race, and she could see why. Sometimes she wonders where his wonderful foresight was most of the time.

But for her part, Astrid tried to bank with Breaker every time they made a tough turn, and it helped, somewhat. The wordless cooperation was beginning to feel advantageous as they negotiated the narrow openings and gaps in the rocks, and she felt they were making good time. But through the dizzying array of rocks and walls, Astrid could not make out where Camicazi or Stormfly were. She refused to look behind, in fear that if she turned forward again she might have been greeted face-first with a rock wall.

"Got any idea where they are?" Astrid asked her dragon, Breaker giving a brief nod. The Nadder's enhanced sense of smell could pick up the slimmest traces of the Mood Dragon and her rider's scent. For one thing, the small human was practically drenched in an unnaturally sweet scent that irritated the dragon's nostrils. "Are they ahead of us?" Astrid pressed on. The Nadder nodded again. They were ahead, yes, but the way their scent was thinly dispersed over the entire area troubled the dragon. There was no point of concentration. Unless…

The Nadder suddenly shot straight up, much to Astrid's surprise. The Viking girl let out a shriek that was completely un-Astrid-like as she almost fell backwards, the harness hanging taut against her vest. "Breaker, what the Hel has gotten into you?"

Cloudbreaker ingnored her rider's yelp as she broke for the roof of the rocks, and true enough to her suspicions, the girl called Camicazi and the Mood Dragon were there, cruising through their own fair share of death traps, but in no way as daunting as the one they were just in.

"Damn, so this is where they were…" _Why doesn't it surprise me that they'd take the easy way out?_

"Caught on, did ya?" Camicazi suddenly turned back and asked, still with that gleeful tone that was beginning to be irritating. Stormfly then leaned hard to the right as they ascended over the rocks, almost to the final leg of the race. Astrid wasn't that far behind, her patience running thin with the other blonde. She seemed to be two steps ahead of everything they did, and it wasn't so bad if Astrid could _see_ the Buglar and her dragon at said two steps, but they were coming and going as they pleased and it was infuriating. The mind games were actually working.

Taking in a lung-freezing breath of cold air, she tried to calm her already raw nerves down as they caught up again with the lead pair at the large turn towards the smaller forest near the village. Both rider and dragon were utterly silent as they lowered to try and cut off the Mood Dragon at the end of the turn, a mimic of the move that took them by surprise earlier.

"Nice try, Astrid, but you can't out-trick the trickster," Camicazi said without even changing her position, and it caught Astrid off-guard, long enough for the golden dragon to break away first at the end of the turn.

"Gods damn it! How does she always know when we're behind her?" she hissed into Breaker's spiked crown, said dragon grunting her agreement. Both the small human and her dragon's body language betrayed no sense of surprise or knee-jerk alertness when they approached the pair, but were more relaxed, as if they were aware of the Nadder and her rider much earlier on.

The forest in this leg of the race didn't have a trail that needed the racers to go through, so it was more of a full-on sprint to the finish line. Astrid felt relieved that this meant Camicazi would have little to no chances of pulling off another one of her tricks, but it also meant that Stormfly, who was proving to be even better fliers than Nadders would have no obstructions whatsoever. This was do-or-die for Astrid.

"Let's show them what we Berk girls are made of, eh?" Astrid asked as Breaker sped up, the Nadder not showing the least bit of fatigue. Just out of curiosity, Astrid turned back to see the first of the other riders begin to emerge from the turn. She could more or less make out Fishlegs, the twins, no Snotlout, Eirik, and several others. At least they weren't too far behind.

Astrid then poured her entire focus onto beating that prissy princess and wiping that stupid grin off her face for good. Coming up close, she took the several seconds she had to analyze Stormfly a little better. Her wingspan wasn't as large as a Nadder's, but her more streamlined body made the dragon easier to cut through the air. Astrid did, however notice that the Mood Dragon glides for awhile after several wing beats, even if they were sprinting. Was the dragon just being arrogant again, or….

_She doesn't have the stamina for a full-on sprint_.

"Breaker, go, go! Stormfly can't keep up with you!"

The brilliant blue dragon gave another burst of speed and soon found themselves neck and neck with the leading pair. The stalemate remained for what seemed like too long as Astrid's eyes locked with the Camizi's. That confident smirk was still plastered on the girl's face but the slightest trace of surprise betrayed her façade and Astrid took notice of that. "Try and keep up now," Astrid challenge and for the first time today, surpassed Camicazi. There was no outcry, no burst or rage from the blonde Buglar as Astrid and Breaker sped on with abandon. They could already see the watchtowers ebbing into view; it wouldn't be long before they reached the village. There was no reason to give it any second thought, no reason to look back. Even if Camicazi could match up with Astrid again, there was nothing much they could do about it besides just to go faster.

Never had the wind stung so much in Astrid's eyes, her braided hair flailing about wildly as her very skin felt pressed hard against flesh and bone. At this rate they would barrel right through the finish line and wouldn't be able to stop in time, but that who cared?

And a sudden, violent jerk from her left broke her train of thought.

"Ow! Hey, watch where you're flying!" Camicazi cried out as Astrid tried to make head and tail of what just happened. Camicazi and her dragon were uncomfortably close to them, so much so that each dragon's wing flaps were fanning bigger gusts of wind against both girls' faces.

"_You_ watch where _you're_ flying, klutz!" Astrid countered. It was quite evident that they collided earlier and she had to thank Odin above that it didn't cause both riders and their dragons to come tumbling down hard onto the trees below.

She could understand if both girls were so focused forward that they neglected to see what was beside them, but she couldn't fathom how _both_ dragons failed to see each other.

"Just a bit more, Storm. You can do it!" Camicazi encouraged as Stormfly let out a roar that seemed to throaty. Was it a cry of exhaustion? Breaker didn't need to wait for any coaxing as she sped up more, trying to level up with the gold dragon that was surprisingly maintaining her speed.

Astrid may not be able to read the body languages of dragons as well as Hiccup could, but she knew the Mood Dragon was growing tired. The subtle signs like the sharper takes of breath or the way the dragon's head was slightly drooping downwards were giveaways, yet the golden beast tried her best to keep her lofty composure. Pride amongst dragons was some of the things Astrid could relate to humans alike. And the slightest bit of respect on her part went out to the dragon.

Still….

"Faster, Breaker!" she commanded, knowing very well her partner could take it, no problem. The Nadder obeyed and pushed harder, making very sure to steer clear of the Golden One unless- Tiamat be damned- they wanted to crash into each other again.

And then it happened.

As they were making yet another turn across the watchtower to fly into the village outskirts, a greenish mass shot past them at the exact same time and it caught both pair of racers off-guard. The rest happened in split-seconds that Astrid could almost literally see every frame of it. To avoid hitting the green mass –a dragon, surely- Stormfly, who was flying on the outer end of the curve almost lost control and barely missed crashing into Breaker, the Nadder spiraling slightly out of control but keeping them both aloft.

All in all the fracas lasted for a mere two seconds before they recovered, but it was two whole seconds wasted as the green mass -clearly a Nadder now that Astrid could discern things properly- got a good lead, one that they would have to make up for in spades. The worst part was that it was painfully obvious who the damned rider was. Only _two_ munge-buckets in Berk would ever have the gall to pull something like that on her.

"Eirik!" Astrid yelled, slamming her fist down on Breaker's armor-like plates. It didn't matter that screaming like that caused her throat and lungs to hurt so much, all that mattered was that her chances on winning the race were slowly shrinking along with the form of Doombeak. Astrid ushered Breaker to keep up anyway, hoping against hope that they could catch up. Screw coming in as a close second. It was first place or nothing.

And she was _so_ hoping to have that golden medal with the dragon motifs on it to hang from her dresser.

She wasn't sure if it was from the anger or the impatience, or the semi-resignation to the fact she may not win, but Astrid was now very aware that Camicazi was again neck and neck with her, but the Buglar traded no banter, no taunts, and no silly grins.

"You know him?" Camicazi asked with an unnaturally serious tone, Astrid snapping her head to Camicazi's direction. The smaller girl wasn't looking at Astrid, but just glaring straight ahead at the green Nadder.

"He's my brother," Astrid casually replied, earning a scoff from Camicazi. "Why am I not surprised…" she muttered, pursing her lips. It was more matter-of-fact than offensive, and Astrid didn't really have any spite to spare on Camicazi anyway. Right now throttling her brother until he turned the same shade of blue as Breaker was the best idea she had in mind.

But as she finally paid a little more attention to their immediate surroundings, the more Astrid felt her stomach plummet. They were now racing along the outer village and with her their current speed, it wouldn't be long before they were at the finish line; the shipyard docks.

She could hear the faint cheers and hoots of encouragement from the people below, almost unintelligible with the speed they were at as they zoomed through houses. It felt unnatural to her, really. Even in her earliest memories when Astrid was greeted with cheers, it was when she was actually winning something. Not coming in second place. Astrid Hofferson _never_ came in second.

_But there's always a first time for everything_.

Gods damn it, that voice in her head can be the most pessimistic bugger ever sometimes.

As they dove downwards to the direction of the docks, the cheering grew louder and wilder, an intensity only matched by the drakkar races. And every one of those cheers pelted Astrid like a hurled insult. Eirik would have crossed the finish line by now, pumping his fists hard into the air –his usual victory pose- as the crowd would have celebrated the first ever victor of the dragon races.

And true enough, once they broke through to the docks, flocks of people were massing around a certain point that was in between two finish poles carved roughly but uniformly from tree trunks. Eirik had his fists in the air, Doombeak was wearing her snout high and mighty with a red ribbon clamped between her beak-like jaws. Astrid could see the two tied halves of large, red ribbons around the finish poles. _Great, a winning ribbon was there for the taking. Way to rub things in._

Astrid landed at the first clearing on the docks, far well away from any of the crowd. She could tell that Camicazi was landing nearby as several women, all adorned in proud armor and jewelry, rushed to greet her, Bog Burglars all. This brought her mind to Hiccup. It would have been sweet of Hiccup to have been waiting to greet her too. She felt like she needed –dare she say it- a hug.

"Astrid!"

_Well that was convenient._

A dark silhouette blocked out the sun for the entirety of a second before landing smoothly somewhere near Astrid, wings withdrawn but still looming slightly above the girl. Toothless lowered himself even in the midst of Hiccup unlatching his prosthetic from the stirrup, his elated grin beaming on Astrid.

"Astrid, you were great out there," he said, strangely just as out of breath as she was, his skin also just as flustered.

"Yeah, thanks," she said with half-commitment. Internally, she was beyond relieved to see him, that silly notion to want to hug him growing stronger by the heartbeat, but another part of her wants to just be moody and grumpy about not winning. Basically, she just wanted some attention.

"Astrid?" he had to carefully tread. It was obvious that she was mad about not winning. In the inside Hiccup was downright terrified because Astrid never lost at anything. _Anything._

"Is everything okay?" _No, of course everything's not okay! She lost, she came in second, to her own brother no less. How do you _think_ she feels?_ He had to ask. Saying something like 'It's okay Astrid, you did your best,' was like assuming for her that she was upset about losing. That, and an empty consolation like that could have warranted a hit to the gut.

_Of all the… _Astrid gave Hiccup a look like the boy had lost all form of intelligence for a second, then look downwards as it hit her. _At least he bothered to ask you. _

"I'm fine, Hiccup," she said, too neutral in her tone. Something was _definitely_ not okay.

"You're sure?" he asked, taking careful strides as Toothless, capable of practically smelling the grumpy mood from Astrid cocked his head at Cloudbreaker, a simple question about what got the girl into such a mood.

The Nadder let out a short but audible breath of air, explaining that her human was displeased about losing the race. The winner was her brother. Surely sibling rivalry was something universally understood amongst dragons too.

Toothless shrugged his shoulders. Humans wear their emotions too frequently for a dragon's liking, but it was what made them so passionately resilient, he openly wagered. A silky agreeing statement came from Stormfly's direction, much to Cloudbreaker's ire.

Astrid had to hand it to Hiccup. He asked if she was sure instead of blatantly calling out her bluff. He was being patient, diplomatic with her. He was being the best kind of friend she needed.

And she wrapped her arms around him in one single step.

Hiccup, not really expecting that of all things, let his hands hover lifelessly at his sides for a good few seconds, his entire posture ramrod straight in all the awkward positions against a hug. Toothless rolled his eyes at his hatchling's cluelessness. Would he have to help the boy wrap his dangly arms around her _for_ him?

Hiccup got the clue and gently began to embrace Astrid, one hand gently caressing her neck as the other held her lower back delicately.

"Icouldhavewon," he heard a muffled voice say. "Come again?" he asked. _What in Odin's name?_

"I could have won," she said with finality, but still maintaining the embrace.

"I know. And I'm proud of you, regardless. You did an awesome job," he said with gravity to his tone she rarely sees, or hears.

"Liar."

"No really, you did. I saw the way you made that hairpin turn on Camizazi earlier, or how you-"

"Just shut up and hug me, Hiccup."

)()()()()()()()()()()()(

**Kinda short for my ending, but I needed to get this underway and hence, it lacked the steam if would usually carry. **

**So hey guys, I won't be able to reply to your critiques for this round (time constraint), so so sorry, I'll try to answer them in the next one, kay?**

**=)**


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